


Accepting Deceit

by DeceitMe



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Humor, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxceit - Freeform, Comfort/Angst, Deceit Sanders Angst, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Fluffy Ending, Good Deceit Sanders, Heavy Angst, Light Angst, M/M, Romantic Fluff, Sympathetic Deceit Sanders, Sympathetic Deceit Week, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, logicality - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-02
Updated: 2019-08-12
Packaged: 2019-08-14 12:30:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 23,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16492649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeceitMe/pseuds/DeceitMe
Summary: No one has seen Deceit for nearly six months, after being revealed in one of Thomas's videos.No one thinks anything of it. Deceit disappears all the time, but still does his job. What's the problem?After Logan accidentally runs into Deceit one night, the others find out that everything isn't as "gucci" with Dee as they thought.Will Deceit ever be accepted as one of the group, or is he doomed to be the villain forever?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> WARNINGS: food mentions, depression, talk of death, sympathetic deceit, self harm mentions
> 
> (PLEASE TELL ME IF I FORGOT SOMETHING!!!)

He didn't know what he was doing.

The light sides would never like to him. He was a liar. The villain they needed. He held Thomas together. Self preservation in its most basic state. Lies and truth, good and bad. He showed Thomas the black and white world he desired, leaving out the gray. The inconsistencies that would break his world view apart. But the other sides couldn't know that.

Deceit. Bad. Villainous. A snake. A common enemy for the light sides to fight against. He had to be the enemy, no matter how much it hurt.

Thomas depended on it.

So why was he here?

He was in the mindscape common area. The living room. Or, more accurately, he was hiding in the bathroom connected to it, concealing himself from the others who were gathered together for what Patton liked to call, "family night."

He had never been invited, obviously. He hadn't even intended to be there now, hiding away in the bathroom while the others had fun~

"Logan, how many eggs do you think I can fit in my mouth without any breaking?" he heard Roman say.

"Two, maybe three. However, raw eggs are bad for your health so I don't think-"

"I'll send you those pictures of Logan watching Sherlock in his unicorn onesie if you fit in five." Virgil said.

"Oh you're ON!" Roman responded.

~and made some rather... questionable decisions?

He had been showering when this whole ordeal began.

Yes, he could have his own bathroom in his room if he so much as desired it, but he much preferred this bathroom because he could hear everyone being happy. Laughter would make its way through the door and he couldn't help but smile.

That's why he villainized himself so. To keep them happy. To keep Thomas happy. They deserved it more than him.

He usually would sneak out before anyone even knew he had been there, wiping the bathroom of all signs anyone had entered it and taking all his shower things with him when he disappeared.

Why didn't he just do that now?

He couldn't comprehend why he was still there, listening longingly to the other sides talk and laugh.

It’s not like he could join them.

Oh, he wished he could join them. Wished he could be a part of their laughter and joy. But that wasn't his role. His role was the bad guy, in this world of black and white.

Even if he had decided to screw with Thomas’ mind and join, he knew the second he made his presence known that the mood would shift. Maybe Patton would make the others let him join, changing the mood from joyful to awkward in less than a second. Or perhaps, and more likely, they'd just flat out spit at him and tell him to get lost.

He felt tears unwillingly fall down his face as he closed his eyes and leaned farther back against the door. He felt himself itching to scratch his arms and felt his nails dig in the palms of his hands, but he was almost a month clean and resisted the urge, opening his hands and stretching his fingers. He ran his hands through his hair and stood up, walking over to the mirror.

He had the light off to keep his presence hidden from the others, but he could still make out parts of his face thanks to the light coming from under the door.

He looked a mess, which was starting to become his new normal. His eyes swollen from crying and lack of sleep. His skin pale, especially compared to the dark green scales on the other half of his face, though those too had lost some of their usual sheen and seemed dull. His eyes, usually mischievous and full of a cheerful light that could rival Patton, were glassy and filled with tears that had yet to been shed. His cheekbones were popping out a bit more than would probably be deemed healthy. He dared not look at how frail the rest of his body looked.

He looked almost dead.

He had to stop himself from laughing out loud at the thought.

He had thought of death often, longing to just disappear with all his conscious thought and pain. Unfortunately, as a side he could not die. Even if he could, Thomas would almost certainly follow soon after. If he lost his sense of self preservation, after all, he'd in turn lose his will to live. Sadly, a necessary feature to survival.

 

The reason Deceit looked so sickly now, even though death was impossible? All mental. Whether he ate or not was irrelevant, though he would often partake in a few meals a day. At least, before he stopped leaving his room as often. Now it was rare for him to even eat everyday.

Everything the sides did that would be normal to a regular human like eating, exercising, and showering were not altogether necessary. The only reason they did any of it was because it kept them sane. It gave them a reason to interact with each other and leave their rooms. Locked in your room for too long, and Thomas would get affected. So far, Virgil was the only one to stay locked up long enough for that to happen. Since then, even the darker sides tried to avoid staying in their rooms for too long as no one really knew what effect to Thomas it’d bring.

Deceit was the only one who would ignore this unspoken rule. He was also the only one who, when he did it, it didn’t affect Thomas’ mind.

Unlike the others, Deceit could stay in his room for days at a time and still keep Thomas performing the same as usual.

I mean, it’s not like the others would talk to him when he was outside his room.

So he suffered alone, but only he did. He was able to keep his own, personal pain separate from Thomas's conscious thought, another nice perk the other sides didn't have. He alone could fake emotions well enough to make them reality.

He heard a shout from the other room, an outbreak of laughter, and loud footsteps running towards the bathroom door.

"VIRGIL WHY DID YOU MAKE ROMAN DO THAT???" he heard Patton yell before the door to the bathroom opened and the light turned on, Roman running over to the sink, spitting out raw eggs and shells and washing out his mouth.

But Deceit was already gone. Back to his room, and all he could hear was the past echo of laughter he'd just left behind.

He fell to to his bed, not bothering to put on his more comfortable clothing that he wore when no one was watching him.

He felt hollow. Empty except for the overwhelming sadness that enveloped him when he heard a shout of laughter from down the corridor.

He wanted to cry, but stopped himself. This was supposed to be happening. He was supposed to be the outcast. Because of him, Thomas was happy.

That's what he told himself as he slowly drifted off to sleep, tears slowly spilling out of his eyes despite his best effort to contain them.

***

He woke up, less than an hour later as he fell off his bed and graciously met the floor.

Groaning, he stood up and got dressed into a more comfortable outfit, simply to give himself rest of the cape that had been choking him all day. Black joggers and a yellow t-shirt. Shivering, he decided to add on a black hoodie. Okay, two hoodies.

He went to bed once more, knowing he wouldn't be sleeping.

Falling on his side, he gazed longingly at his door, wanting it to open and show him the common area where he was sure the others were still gathered.

As if to confirm his thoughts, he heard a laugh come through his door and he felt the tears well up in his eyes once more.

'No.' he sternly told himself and turned away from the door. 'They're better off without you.'

He tried to sleep, but all he could do is toss and turn.

He eventually swung his feet over the side of his bed and stood up, swaying slightly as his head grew dizzy and he blacked out for a second.

Once the spell past, he walked over to his door and held up his ear to the crack.

Silence.

He slowly opened his door and walked down the long hallway to the kitchen, stretching his legs as much as possible before he went back to his cramped room.

Passing through the common area, he found an empty carton along with raw eggs smashed on the ground.

He swallowed his smile and walked into the kitchen, looking around quickly before actually entering.

He made his way to the kettle and put some water on to boil.

A cup of tea would make him feel better.

Putting his teabag in his cup, he took the kettle off the heat quickly before it started to whistle and poured the water into his cup, hissing loudly when he spilled some on his hand.

He quickly went quiet and listened to his surroundings, only calming down when he didn't hear anyone coming.

They hadn't seen him in nearly 6 months. The longest he had disappeared for. He usually liked to stay away from the others and keep them distant from himself. It made his job of being the bad guy easy. How could you like someone if you don’t even know them?

However, the past 6 months had been more rough than usual. there was something about being Patton that just made him feel so... good.

He made a small appearance after that video, but then proceeded to just shut himself away. No one questioned it.

It’s not like he expected them to anyway.

He was still doing his job and that was all that mattered.

He turned around with his tea and stopped dead when he saw Logan standing in the doorway, looking ruffled and…

Scared.

Logan looked with wide eyes at Deceit, looking him up and down, finally landing on his eyes.

Before either of them could say anything, Deceit was back in his room

He felt the dam behind his eyes break open, and he was crying.

He fell to his knees, dropping his tea and spilling the hot water all over his lap. He didn’t care, he didn’t even notice.

The most logical and objective side of Thomas. The one who knew all the answers. The one who understood Deceit’s importance the most out of all of them.

He was scared. Scared of Deceit.

‘Anyone would be scared of a snake.’

He curled up in a ball on his floor and let himself cry.

If even Logan was scared of him, maybe he wasn’t that important after all.

Maybe they’d all be better off without him.

***

The next day, he felt Thomas jerk awake and knew the other sides would be awake, too.

He slowly brought his arms underneath him, pushing himself up and into his bed, wincing at the burns on his legs from the tea.

Wrapping his blankets around himself, he curled up into an even tighter ball, not wanting to get up and accept the new day.

And he was cold. His body shaking uncontrollably, no matter how many blankets he covered himself in.

'Just like a snake.' he thought to himself, feeling tears renew themselves in his eyes.

He felt tired. Drained. He couldn't remember the last time he got more than 3 hours of sleep.

He couldn't even remember the last time he ate. He felt his stomach growl as if on cue.

He couldn't die, but he could suffer in both physical and mental aspects, and right now, he was suffering on all playing fields.

He didn’t want to get up. To take care of himself. It all seemed like too much effort for something of so little importance.

He still had to do his job though.

Deceit leaned over far enough to turn on his TV screen and then sat back as he watched Thomas brush his teeth.

***

Logan sat in his room, still questioning the night before.

He'd gotten up for a drink of water, and came face to face with Deceit.

At first he thought it was Virgil, since he was the only one he ever knew to be up at such a late hour and have such great bags under his eyes. Then he saw the scales.

Concerned weaved itself through Logan's head once more as he remembered how Deceit looked the night before.

He was so thin and pale, both his eyes were laced with red veins and swollen, all with dark bags underneath to accompany the look.

He looked broken and Logan couldn't help the sadness that pricked at him. Not to mention the fear.

The thought of such an important part of Thomas being in such a frail state greatly upset and scared him.

He looked at his watch and jumped up when he realized he was already half an hour late to breakfast.

He should tell the others, he decided as he stood up and walked out of his room to the common area.

Virgil sat on the couch, headphones in and on his phone. Roman and Patton were both in the kitchen, talking about what they wanted to put in the waffles.

Patton looked over as Logan walked in and smiled his usual cheery smile.

"Good morning, Logan!" he exclaimed.

"Yes, good morning." Logan replied, still standing in the doorway.

"I'm surprised you weren't out here sooner! Usually you're up before all of us!" Roman said and Virgil looked up, taking off his headphones.

"Yeah, why are you up so late?" Virgil asked suspiciously.

Logan looked around at the other sides and sighed before saying, "We need to talk."

"About what?" Virgil asked.

"Deceit." he said calmly, and all eyes turned to him.

"What? Why do we need to talk about THAT slithering snake?!" Roman exclaimed.

Virgil seemed just as shocked.

"Yeah, what about him?" he said.

Patton seemed to be the only one who was concerned.

"Is he okay? He hasn't been out of his room in so long!" Patton said.

"That's the thing. I don't believe he is okay." Logan responded and then continued to tell them about his encounter the night before.

Patton looked sad and almost horrified and the description Logan gave of Deceit's appearance, and even Virgil seemed a bit concerned. Roman, on the other hand, waved it away.

"How do you know it's not a trick to make us feel bad for him? How do you know he doesn't want something?"

"That seems illogical, considering he's been avoiding us all this time and disappeared the second he saw me."

"Oh no! Do you think I should bring him some waffles? I don't want him to be starving!!!" Patton exclaimed, looking down the hallway concerned.

Virgil bit his lip.

"I wonder what's wrong with him." he mumbled, mostly to himself.

Roman still wasn't convinced.

"But he's EVIL! He's always lying and manipulating everyone! How do we know he's not trying to manipulate us now?"

Every one looked around at each other, the seed of doubt being planted in all of them.

Except for Patton.

"I still think we should check up on him, just to make sure." Patton said, putting his hands on his hips.

"I'll go with you." Logan said, finally walking further into the room to stand with Patton.

"Then I shall go to protect you from the lying snake that awaits us!" Roman said, brandishing his sword.

Virgil looked at the others and then down the hallway towards Deceit's room.

"I guess I'll join, too." Virgil mumbled.

***

After everyone ate their breakfast, Patton made a plate for Deceit and they all made their way down the hall to his room.

Patton knocked on the door with his free hand.

"Hey, kiddo? You doing okay? We brought you some breakfast in case you were hungry." Patton said.

Silence.

"Hey, Dee?" Patton said as he tried to turn the knob to the door, except it was locked.

Everyone looked at one another, and even Roman seemed to finally be a little concerned. Deceit would almost always snark back at them with a lie or some sarcasm when they bothered him.

The silence continued.  
"Okay, well I'm just going to leave it out here. We won't look down the hallway if you wanted to get it after we're gone." Patton said, putting the food outside the door.  
They waited a minute longer and then headed back towards the common area, everyone at least a little concerned for the darker side in their own ways.

"Do you think we should check in with Thomas? See how he's doing?" Virgil asked everyone.

Logan was the first to answer.

"We should wait a few days first before concerning Thomas. I'll monitor his behavior though and see if anything changes. However, Deceit has often done his job within his room, hence why none of us noticed his worn appearance sooner."

Everyone nodded in agreement and slowly went back to their tasks, trying not to look back at the room they left behind them.

***

Deceit heard them at his door. Heard the concern in Patton's voice when he didn't open the door or respond.

It’s not that he didn’t think of responding, but his throat was raw. He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to speak loud enough to be heard, and if he was heard then he wouldn’t know how to answer their many questions about the state of his voice.

He couldn’t fathom why anyone was concerned in the first place. Maybe Logan thought he was up to something bad last night and the others were scared of him planning something?

Either way, he stayed lying there in the same position all day.

He heard Patton come back at lunch time and replace the cold breakfast with lunch and then dinner. Every time, Patton attempted to get Deceit to talk to him and let him in.

He never responded.

He didn’t deserve this attention.

***

Deceit hadn’t moved in days.

He still laid in the same curled up position as before while watching Thomas’ life on his screen and put in his input on how to handle certain situations when he deemed it fit to intervene.

Sometimes he would catch himself zoning in and out and missing certain cues in which he should have given his suggestion to Thomas, resulting in some minor inconveniences and awkward moments.

***

Nothing major, but still worrying to Logan nonetheless.

For as long as he knew Deceit, he always had an admiring work ethic, comparable to his own. So for him to not have input at all?

It was worrying, to say the least.

Perhaps he’d pay a visit to Deceit later himself.

***

He heard footsteps coming down the hallway and listened, waiting for Patton to knock and ask to let him in.

He was shocked to hear it was Virgil.

"Hey look, I know you don't usually talk to us and you're kind of a dick all the time, but we are actually concerned for you by this point."

There was a pause.

"Can you just say something? Anything? Just so we know you're alive in there."

He heard Virgil pause again, almost felt him straining to hear any response Deceit may have.

“Who said I want to be alive?” Deceit managed to get out, despite the pain and coughing fit it caused him.

***

Virgil was completely shocked.

Had that sound really come from Deceit?

Had that statement?

“Don’t say that. You know saying that means that you also want Thomas dead by association.” Virgil said in an attempt to make Deceit more comfortable.

He heard a small laugh, followed by more coughing and pained sounds.

“Dee, do you want some tea or something? It may help your throat.” Virgil offered.

There was silence for a minute, and then Deceit said, “*Don’t bother. It’s not like I’m gonna die.”

“Yeah, but doesn’t it hurt?”

“Everything hurts. You get used to it… Eventually.” Deceit responded, voice even more hoarse and almost unintelligible.

Virgil turned around and sat with his back against the door that was separating the two sides.

“What’s the point of suffering if you don’t have to?” he asked Deceit.

“Just because I don’t have to doesn’t mean I don’t deserve to.” he replied.

Virgil chuckled darkly. “Yeah, I definitely know what you mean. I used to think that way too. Then everyone came into my room and forced me into accepting myself. Maybe that’s what you need, too. Or maybe even just… one of us?”

Virgil didn’t hear the other for a while and thought that maybe he went too far, but then he heard a shuffling and heard the door to his room unlock.

Virgil quickly stood up and turned toward the door.

He heard more shuffling and a grunt, then finally “You can come in.”

Virgil’s heart started to beat a little faster as he turned the knob to the others room and entered, shutting the door behind him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil and Deceit have a talk, Roman keeps Thomas up til all hours, and Logan has to deal with an angry Remy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: food mentions, talk of unhealthy thinness, depressive thoughts, angst, sympathetic deceit, fighting
> 
> (i'm bad at warnings, so i tried my best to think of what i should warn against. please tell me if i missed something!)
> 
> (more notes at end!)

Virgil immediately regretted closing the door.

Complete darkness filled the room, and Virgil was afraid of taking any step forward, least he stumble and fall.

Not to mention the dark. He hated the dark.

As if sensing his anxiousness, Deceit slowly leaned over and turned on his light.

The room was suddenly bathed in a soft, yellow light that left only the very corners of the room in the dark. Pictures of Thomas’s life filled one wall, with everything from his happiest to his darkest moments. In the corner of the room sat an aged piano that had been well cared for and had definitely seen a lot of use in the past, but now sat covered in a layer of dust. The closet hung open, revealing Deceit’s usual outfit along with a variety of dress shirts, waistcoats, and sweats. The bookshelf contained all of Thomas’s favorite books, along with a few original works.

Looking around, he couldn’t help but see how similar to Patton’s room it was, if just slightly less cluttered.

His eyes then traveled to the bed. Disheveled and worn, it seemed to have been used a lot. The bedside table next to it had a TV and the light that was currently supplying the room a soft glow.

Deceit was on the floor, and Virgil was instantly taken aback.

He was far worse off than Logan has previously stated.

His eyes were bloodshot and swollen with dark circles underneath. His skin was pale and his scales dull. His bones were popping out of his skin, turning Deceit’s usual jovial and mischievous facial features into those of pain and suffering. He was leaning against his bed frame and wrapped up in many blankets, attempting to hide his frail body that was shaking uncontrollably.

It wasn’t working.

Within seconds of spotting Deceit, Virgil was on the floor with him.

“Woah, you’re worse off than I thought.” Virgil said, trying to chuckle, but his eyes revealed his fear and concern.

“Yeah, well, that’s what happens when you’re me.” Deceit whispered and Virgil had to strain to hear him, even though they were only about one foot apart from one another.

Virgil pursed his lips.

“Why are you on the floor?” he asked as normally as he could manage.

“I… fell.” he said, getting even quieter. His eyes closed as a cold chill passed through his body.

“That’s okay. Let me help you get back into bed, okay?” Virgil asked gently.

Deceit nodded and Virgil put his arms under the other and picking up his thin body far too easily. Virgil could feel the bones of the other jutting out as he placed him into the bed.

Deceit curled into a tight ball and let Virgil cover him in more blankets and adjust his pillows.

Deceit didn’t know what he was doing. He didn’t know why he let Virgil in. He didn’t know why Virgil cared about him. He didn’t know why anyone cared about him. He was just… a snake.

Deceit felt a sob escape his body as he began crying.

Why was he here, why was he worrying everyone, why did Thomas need him, why didn’t he just disappear, why was he crying, why was he alive, why-

The thoughts that had been tormenting him all these months abruptly froze when Virgil suddenly laid behind Deceit and threw his arms around him, cuddling and hugging the hurting, sobbing, broken side.

Deceit’s sobs slowly dispersed and his breathing evened as he reveled in the warmth the other body emitted. Slowly felt his eyes close, as he fell asleep for the first time in days. Virgil, still hugging Deceit, sighed contently as he pressed his forehead into the sides back and let his eyes close, also getting some much deserved rest.

***

Logan looked down the corridor as Virgil entered Deceit’s room and closed the door behind him.

Logan let out a sigh of relief, thankful that Virgil was doing what he had planned to do that night. He figured Virgil would be better at comforting Deceit than he would.

Logan looked down at the book he had brought to offer Deceit as a sort of “peace offering,” if you would. It was a well worn, but cared for copy of ‘The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.’ A favorite of Logan’s. He always did enjoy detective stories, and this one in particular had really catered to his tastes.

Logan turned around to head back to his room, hesitating slightly to look back down the corridor towards Deceit’s room.

‘They’ll be fine by themselves. No need to get involved.’ he reminded himself and started to walk back towards his room.

“Really Roman? You have to work now?” Logan heard being shouted behind the door to Roman’s room.

“It’s an amazing idea! If I don’t work on it now I’ll forget it, and that would be the true crime! Thomas can sleep later!”

“Yeah, you always say that, don’t you? Well fine, you work on your stupid project. See if I care when you come running back to me at 3 in the morning!”

The door to Roman’s room swung open as Remy stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind him.

“You’ll see! This is my best idea yet!” Roman shouted through the door, not seeming phased by Remy’s anger.

Remy growled, but stopped when he saw Logan.

“Hey.” Remy said, anger and fury still filling his voice.

“Hello.” Logan responded cautiously, not wanting to further anger him.

They looked at each other a moment before Logan cleared his throat and said, “Another fight?”

“Pfft, yeah I know, what a shock.” Remy replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

“Isn’t this the third one this week?” Logan asked, though he already knew the answer.

Remy only glared in response and pushed his way past Logan, opening the door to Logan’s room and letting himself in.

Logan followed and found Remy sitting in his usual chair in the corner of the room. Knowing the routine, Logan moved to sit down at the edge of his bed like usual.

Once Logan settled into his spot, Remy got straight to his point.

“I could punch him, I swear. Maybe then he’d finally sleep.” Remy said viciously.

Logan remained unfazed.

“What was the idea this time? Another original character?” Logan asked.

Remy rubbed his eyes, which Logan knew to mean yes.

“I get he has an idea, but does he really need to push me away and act like he’s more important than me? What’s his deal! He acts like we’re not even togeth-I mean…” he stopped himself and started to blush furiously.

He did this every time. Every time Roman went on one of his creative outbursts when he should be letting Thomas sleep, Remy would get upset and vent to Logan. Why Logan? He wasn’t entirely sure, but he hypothesized it was because he would agree with him from a logical viewpoint that Thomas needs to sleep.

Then, he would proceed to get all tongue tied about his feelings toward Roman, often forgetting he isn’t actually dating Roman except in his dreams.

Remy often got confused between dreams and reality, mixing them up and getting confused when told otherwise.

Logan sighed and pushed his glasses up.

“Why don’t you just tell Roman you have feelings for him?” he asked, already knowing the answer he’d get.

“It’s harder than it sounds! Sure, to you it’s ‘simply conveying information to one another’ or whatever, but there’s way more to it then that!” Remy exclaimed, jumping up and moving his arms out dramatically.

‘He’s been spending too much time with Roman.’ Logan thought to himself.

“Besides, telling him my feelings doesn’t mean anything if he doesn’t reciprocate them back.” he continued, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Feelings, the bane of my existence.” Logan mumbled to himself before straightening himself out and addressing Remy.

“What else am I to say? We’ve had this conversation precisely eleven times now and it always ends the same way.”

Remy looked at Logan as if he wanted to retaliate, but instead he sighed and sunk back into his chair, curling his legs up to his chest.

“I know, you’re right. I just… I can’t tell him. Not right now.”

They both went quiet as they heard Roman singing down the hallway, still keeping Thomas wide awake.

“Especially not now!” Remy exclaimed as his annoyance at Roman ran through him, dampened slightly by the strange love he held for Roman.

Logan just couldn’t comprehend his counterparts anymore.

***

Patton was humming quietly to himself as he tidied his room. Not something he did often, but in times of worry he tended to find himself sorting through his room and organizing.

‘Logan would be proud.’ he thought, smiling at the thought of his logical complement.

‘Then again, maybe he wouldn’t approve as much since it’s so late at night.’

He smothered a yawn and straightened up, listening for Roman.

‘Yeah, he’s still up.’ he thought as he heard a few bars of Sing Sweet Nightingale make its way into his room.

Patton chuckled. Roman was worse than him sometimes.

He could only imagine how annoyed Remy was just now. He was already hard enough on Virgil, but he was even worse when it came to Roman.

Patton walked over to his bed and went to lie down when he heard people talking outside.

He paused a minute, curiosity of who was still awake at this hour beating his desire to preserve the privacy of whoever it was.

He slowly tiptoed over to his door and pressed his ear against the crack.

“Just tell him how you feel, Remy.” he heard Logan say.

“Yeah… Maybe later.” Remy said.

“I still don’t understand why you’re so hesitant. Roman loves romance. He’ll be dating his sword soon enough if no one comes forward.”

Remy laughed and said, “Yeah yeah.”

Logan wished Remy a good night, which got a small, annoyed laugh from Remy who was probably thinking about Roman who was currently keeping them all awake in the other room.

Patton waited a minute and then tiptoed back to his bed, lying down and covering himself with his blankets.

He chuckled and smiled as he thought about the confession he’d just overheard.

‘Remy and Roman, huh?’ he thought and felt the warmth inside him grow.

‘I love my children… Including Dee.’ he felt the warmth inside him twinge at the thought of Deceit being alone in his room all this time and no one had questioned it.

Patton turned to his other side and closed his eyes.

‘I hope he’s okay.’ was his last thought before he fell asleep.

***

Virgil and Deceit were both roused from their deep slumber when they felt Thomas wake up.

Virgil still had his arms wrapped around Deceit, who was curled up in the same ball as when they had fallen asleep, but he had at least stopped shaking.

Virgil looked over at Deceit who was looking at Virgil’s hand on his waist.

Feeling his face go red, Virgil unwrapped himself from Deceit and pushed himself up into a sitting position. Deceit rolled over to face Virgil, still not getting up from his lying down position.

They looked at each other for a moment, before Deceit looked down at his hands.

“You doing okay?” Virgil asked the other, voice husky from the deep sleep that hadn’t fully worn off yet.

Deceit didn’t answer. He simply moved closer to Virgil and wrapped his arms around the others waist.

Virgil was only slightly shocked at this behavior, as it wasn’t how Dee usually conducted himself. However, Deceit hadn’t been acting the same way as he used too, hence the worry towards him to begin with.

Neither noticed the slight blush that spread across both of their faces as Deceit put his head on Virgil’s leg.

Vigil started to play with Deceit’s hair. An action he himself enjoyed Patton doing as it brought him some comfort, and he figured Deceit could use some of that right about now.

Deceit responded to Virgil’s touch by curling up closer to the other and closing his eyes.

They sat there like that for some time, simply enjoying the company of one another.

Eventually, Deceit just had to ask something that had been itching at him this whole time.

“Why do you all care?” he said quietly, voice still raw and a bit dry, causing his words to come out scratchy.

He cleared his throat.

“I mean, I’m the-” he paused briefly to cough.

“I’m the villain. No one should care…” he trailed off, lost in thought.

Virgil’s hands stopped combing through Deceit’s hair briefly, the shock of hearing how Deceit viewed himself and how he thought the others viewed him trying to register. He looked down at Dee’s head on his lap and smiled when he saw that his bags had decreased considerably since the night before.

“Look, I know we’ve all had our issues in the past. We never been there for you and it sucks being the bad guy. I’ve been there.”

Deceit looked up at the other’s face and saw his eyes unfocused, staring at the opposite wall.

“But trust me, disappearing doesn’t really work.” Virgil’s eyes refocused and looked down at Deceit, who was still looking up at him. Virgil smiled.

“There’s always going to be at least one idiot who comes after you.” Virgil finished, winking down at Deceit.

Deceit felt a light blush on his cheeks and gave a small smile back towards Virgil before taking a deep breath and attempting to sit up himself.

As soon as his head lifted off of the other’s leg, he felt the world shift around him, making him dizzy and causing his vision to blackout.

He continued sitting up despite the dizziness and leaned his head against his backboard, clamping his eyes shut and inhaling sharply at the pain sitting up had caused.

“Woah, slow down there Dee!” Virgil exclaimed, startled at the sudden movement of Deceit, who had turned an even paler shade as the blood rushed out of his face.

Virgil stood up and readjusted Deceit back down into a lying position, whos sight slowly returned as his head stopped spinning.

Virgil put some blankets on top of him and adjusted his pillows before sitting on the edge of the bed.

“Sorry about that.” Deceit mumbled quietly, embarrassed at how weak he had become over what? Not fitting in? He felt ridiculous.

He wasn’t supposed to fit in. Virgil had tried to tell him otherwise, but Deceit couldn’t see how else he could be seen. How would he be able to help Thomas if he wasn’t the bad guy?

Virgil smiled at Deceit, not knowing that his words hadn’t reached him.

“You haven’t eaten in a while, right? Why don’t I make us something for breakfast?” Virgil asked him, still smiling.

Deceit couldn’t help but smile at the other, even though he felt undeserving of his attention, let alone the genuine smile he was giving him.

“Sure.” he replied.

“Okay then. I’ll be back in a minute. You better not lock that door behind me.” Virgil said while standing up, looking over his shoulder at the other with his last remark.

“Fine, but only as long as you don’t let anyone else come in.” Deceit said, coughing and wincing at the pain speaking so much had caused.

Virgil nodded in agreement and walked over to the door.

“I’ll bring some water and tea as well.” he said, smirking at Deceit before leaving and closing the door behind him.

***

After closing the door, Virgil paused for a second, listening to see if Deceit would lock him out. After a minute and no sound being made behind the door, Virgil relaxed and walked down the hallway, making his way toward the kitchen.

He couldn’t help the twang of sadness that went through his body when he thought about how long Dee must have been suffering for. He couldn’t understand why he didn’t tell them all sooner.

‘It’s not like you’re the best example of opening up either.’ he thought.

Entering the kitchen, he saw Logan making a cup of coffee.

“Patton and Roman not up yet?” Virgil asked, walking over to the fridge.

“No. I’m afraid Roman had a rather late night.” Logan said, clearly tired.

“Ahh… So you were with Remy.” Virgil said and nodded in understanding, patting Logan’s shoulder.

“Yes. As per usual.” Logan said, turning and leaning against the counter, taking a sip of his coffee.

Virgil went around the kitchen, making scrambled eggs and toast for him and Deceit. He put on water for tea and finally turned to look at Logan, who was watching him.

‘“I’m the villain.”’ Deceit’s words suddenly made their way into Virgil’s thoughts.

“What is Deceit’s function in Thomas’s mind?” Virgil blurted out, taking Logan by shock.

After a moment, Logan finally responded.

“That depends on what you mean by your use of the term ‘function,’ however I can only assume you are asking if he brings more to the figurative table than just deceit.”

Virgil nodded and Logan set down his coffee cup, crossing his arms across his chest after adjusting his glasses.

“Put simply, Deceit acts as a form of a mental filter for Thomas. Anything he thinks will upset Thomas and hurt him, he will keep a secret from him as long as possible, or at least until he believes Thomas can handle the truth. He sees what we don’t see, recognizes the lies and truths in Thomas’s life. He is the embodiment of self preservation.”

Logan picked back up his coffee mug, letting this information sink in.

The more Virgil thought about it, the more it made sense. They knew that Deceit, despite his name, could tell the truth just as the other sides could tell lies.

Deceit wasn’t Deceit’s whole purpose, though of course deceit played a big role in his job. His job which was to protect Thomas… just like the rest of them.

Virgil turned away from Logan and closed his eyes, putting his hands on the counter and leaning into it. His mind flashed with images of Deceit, unable to even stand properly, all because…

‘“... I’m the villain. No one should care…”’

Virgil felt his stomach clench as he recalled all the awful things they had said to him. The awful things they had called him.

‘The awful things you’ve called him.’ he thought.

This is all of their faults.

‘“Who said I want to be alive?”’

Virgil felt tears spring into his eyes.

‘This is all his fault.’ he realized as the kettle began to whistle and the toaster dinged.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay, what? i wasn't expecting so many people to like this! sorry i haven't responded to any comments, i've just been so flabbergasted that people like this!
> 
> thank you so much for the comments everyone! i'm so happy you're all enjoying this so far! :)
> 
> (i even wrote this chapter earlier than i had intended because i was so inspired to write this chapter lol, next chapter up within the next week!)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil remembers something about Deceit and now has to face him, knowing the truth.
> 
> Patton is the best argument breaker, apparently.
> 
> Oh, and Roman and Remy are cute.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS:  
> anxiety, depression, crying, sympathetic deceit
> 
> PLEASE TELL ME IF I FORGOT SOMETHING
> 
> (also, don't be fooled by the tiny amount of warnings, a lot goes down in this chapter.)

… the video was finished. deceit had made his first appearance, finally showing himself to thomas. to the world. sure, it wasn’t in the best way, but it was all he could think to do. he was sure that in time, with logan’s help and deceit’s own actions, he could prove that he wasn’t evil. deceit smiled to himself, happy for the first step to have finally been taken towards being seen. being heard.

virgil, logan, and patton were all gathered together in the common area, roman having gone to the bathroom to shower. usually, deceit would avoid them all together and just rise up into his room, but he wanted to explain himself to the others first.

deceit slowly entered the room, taking off his bowler hat and gripping it in front of him. he was slightly nervous, to say the least.

‘what i +didn't+ just do with patton +can't+ be explained.’ he drawled, smiling to hide his nervousness.

virgil immediately jumped up and clenched his fists. logan remained sitting, but put an elbow on the back of the couch to turn and look at deceit. patton also jumped up, but with a smile and none of the fright virgil held.

‘salutations.’ logan said.

‘dee, you’re out here! i haven’t seen you in so long!’ patton exclaimed, clapping his hands together.

logan sighed.

‘its only been a few minutes since we last saw him, patton.’

‘sure, but he never comes into the common area, now does he?’ patton said, putting his hand on his hips and looking at logan.

‘maybe there’s a good reason for that.’ virgil mumbled, though no one heard him.

‘yes, well i +didn’t+ figure there were some things i +shouldn’t+ explain.’ deceit continued, daring to look sheepish.

virgil felt his hate toward the other intensify, even though he knew he didn’t actually hate the other. he barely knew him. logically, he knew that his anxiety was simply causing his emotions to become jumbled. if only he was thinking logically.

patton smiled and walked around the couch toward deceit.

‘of course! we’re all open to hear you out, kiddo!’ he said, wrapping his arms around deceit who stood shocked for a moment before patting the other on the back awkwardly.

‘here, come join us!’ patton exclaimed, ending the hug and pulling deceit by the arm to the couch.

deceit was quickly shoved onto the couch next to logan with patton sitting on the other side, squeezing deceit into the middle of the two.

virgil felt his fury grow as he saw him smile at patton, like he didn’t just try and fool them all into thinking he was patton. like he didn’t just try and get thomas to lie to his best friend.

patton looked over at virgil, who hadn’t made a move to sit back down.

‘come on, kiddo! we’re all friends here!’ patton said, motioning for virgil to sit back down.

virgil ignored him and kept glaring at deceit, who sighed and turned to patton.

‘it’s +not+ okay. this behavior +is+ totally uncalled for. i +didn’t+ impersonate you after all.’

‘true, pretending to be patton simply to get your opinion heard wasn’t the most… well thought out plan, but it did work to a degree. i wouldn’t recommend doing it again, however.’ logan said, shifting on the couch to turn more towards deceit.

‘that’s right, dee! i know we usually have different views on certain things, but you shouldn’t be afraid of just coming up when you feel like you need to!’ patton added, placing his hand on deceit’s leg.

‘stop it, stay away from him!’ virgil suddenly yelled, dropping to the floor and pulling his knees to his chest.

‘virg-’ patton said while getting up, but he stopped when he saw the transparent, purple barrier surrounding virgil and only getting bigger.

‘this isn’t good.’ logan said, grimacing and standing up.

‘this +isn’t+ my fault, i’m +not+ sorry!’ deceit said, not trying to hide the fear in his voice as he curled his knees up to his torso.

‘what the heck is happening?!’ roman said walking into the room.

roman looked up from virgil and saw deceit sitting on the couch in between logan and patton.

‘what is snake face doing out here?!?!’ roman yelled loudly, drawing out his sword.

there was a sharp inhale from virgil, drawing everyone’s attention back to him.

‘not... safe...’ virgil said quietly, looking up with a blank expression in his face as the force field around him grew faster than anyone could react, encasing them all in a purple glow for a second before they blacked out…

***

In Virgil’s eyes, the room was spinning as the memory of that day burst its way into his head.

‘It’s all my fault. I was so scared of him. I didn’t mean it. I didn’t mean to-’ his thoughts were zooming through his head, barely making sense, except for the one true fact he couldn’t hide from.

It was his fault.

He could only see blackness as his thoughts consumed him.

Logan couldn’t see what was happening in Virgil’s head, however. All he saw was Virgil looking like he was about to fall over, causing Logan to jump forward and quickly grab his shoulders to keep him upright.

“Are… are you okay?” Logan asked, concern lacing his voice.

He heard a sniffle and realized that Virgil was crying. He kept hold of Virgil’s shoulders as he still looked like he could fall over at any moment.

Thoughts of what he should be doing to comfort the side ran through Logan’s head, but he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to properly execute any of the actions.

‘Well, I can give it a shot.’ he thought.

Logan slowly let go of Virgil’s shoulders and wrapped his arms around his body, hugging tight enough to give him some support, still afraid of him falling, but loosely enough to let him breath and not feel constrained or trapped.

Virgil jumped at the sudden touch, but was quick to lean into it, turning around and burying his face into Logan’s chest.

“It’s all my fault, it’s all my fault, it’s all my fault-” he started to chant silently, crying harder as each word left his mouth.

Logan kept standing there, hugging the other a little tighter.

“What is?” he asked, trying to soften his voice.

Virgil stopped speaking and just stood crying for a minute.

“All of it.” he said, a sob escaping his mouth.

Logan looked down at Virgil’s head, confused by his statement.

He was about to question him more, when Virgil suddenly pushed himself away from the other and wiped the tears from his face. He turned away from Logan and began to put the food he had made onto plates and grabbing a bottle of water and the cup of tea.

Before Logan could say anything to him at all, Virgil was already out of the kitchen and making his way back down the corridor to Deceit’s bedroom.

***

Virgil knocked on Deceit’s door to let him know he was back, balancing the two plates of food and cup of tea in one arm and a water bottle in his armpit.

“Virge?” he heard Deceit whisper and Virgil winced at how hopeful the voice sounded.

‘It’s my fault.’

“Yeah, it’s me.” he said as he opened the door and walked into the room, Deceit quickly shoving something under his mattress.

Virgil didn’t notice, as he was looking anxiously down at the food, afraid of dropping it.

He made his way over and carefully placed down the plates of food, tea, and water onto the bedside table.

He released a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding and turned to sit on the bed, hesitating and then sinking onto the ground instead.

Deceit looked at him, confused by his behavior.

Virgil had refused to look at him this entire time, instead choosing to stare at the floor. Deceit noticed the dried tears on his face and how his eyes were slightly swollen.

“You’ve been crying.” he said matter of factly and Virgil flinched.

Deceit shot him a concerned glance as Virgil stood back up and adjusted Deceit’s pillows so his upper body was inclined upward. Virgil, still not looking at him, handed him his tea and sat back on his knees.

Deceit, supporting the warmth of the tea in his hands, didn’t take his eyes off the other as he took a sip and felt his throat become coated in the soothing liquid, calming his pain and allowing him to speak a little louder and less scratchy than previously.

“I thought crying was my job.” Deceit said jokingly to Virgil, attempting to get him to be more comfortable. His statement however, only seemed to upset Virgil more.

Virgil tilted his head down until his bangs hid his face. This action did not stop Deceit from seeing the tears that slowly slid out of his eyes.

Before Deceit thought through what he was doing, he was sitting up despite the dizziness and pain it brought him. Instead of lying back down, he slammed his eyes shut and pushed through it, swinging his feet off the bed.

“Wha- What are you doing?” he heard the other say and felt his hands on him, trying to put him back in bed.

Deceit, instead of letting him push him back down, hugged his arms around Virgil’s waist and held on tight.

He felt Virgil stop trying to push him down, surprised at the hug.

Virgil slowly went back to his knees and hugged the other back, crying softly at first and then full on sobbing into Deceit’s arms.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…” Virgil kept saying over and over.

Deceit didn’t respond. He simply held onto the other tighter, letting him cry.

Deceit opened his eyes and realized the world had stopped spinning.

***

Patton woke up quite a bit later than usual.

‘I wonder when Roman went to sleep last night.’ he sleepily thought as he made his way down the corridor into the common area.

Patton yawned as he made his way to the kitchen, looking up and stopping when he saw Logan standing in the middle of the kitchen, looking confused.

“Good morning, Logan!” Patton said cheerfully, nonetheless, and made his way to the kettle to boil some water.

Logan jumped slightly, startled by his cheery counterpart he hadn’t noticed had come in.

“Good morning, Patton.” he responded, clearing his throat and walking to the counter and picking up his coffee mug.

Patton looked around the kitchen, noticing a dirty pan on the stove top.

“You had breakfast already?” he asked.

Logan shook his head.

“That would be Virgil. He was making breakfast for himself and Deceit, who has finally let someone into his room.”

Patton jumped excitedly.

“Oh, that’s absolutely Dee-lightful news!” he said and laughed.

Logan put his palm to his face.

“It’s too early for dad jokes.” he said.

“It’s never too early for dad jokes! You’re probably just feeling a little Lo-”

“Don’t you dare.”

“-gan.”

Logan sat fuming, though he wasn’t as annoyed at the jokes as he usually was. His mind was still elsewhere.

Patton saw Logan’s eyes go out of focus in thought and felt concern weave its way through him.

“Lo, are you okay?” he said gently, putting his hand on Logan.

Logan looked down at the hand on his arm and sighed, shifting his glasses on his face.

“It’s nothing.” he said.

Patton, who was unsatisfied with the answer but not going to force Logan to talk about it right now, simply gave his arm a comforting squeeze and walked over to the now whistling kettle.

Logan noticed how cold his arm felt without Patton’s hand there, but quickly pushed the thought away.

Roman walked into the kitchen, still in his pyjamas, yawning and running a hand through his hair which was messy with bed head. This was unusual for Roman, as usually he would get showered and dressed immediately after waking.

“Long night?” Logan asked sarcastically, not trying to hide the annoyance in his voice, knowing that the other had kept Thomas and all of them until nearly three a.m.

Roman glared over at Logan, not missing the vexation in the others tone.

“Yes, it was, and I’ll have you know that I got plenty of important work done!” Roman said with pride, which caused Logan to snort while taking a sip of coffee and made him go into a small coughing fit.

Roman started to tell Logan off for laughing at him, but Patton had other plans.

Grabbing eggs from the fridge to get breakfast started, Patton looked at Roman and said, “I’m sure you did some egg-cellent work last night!”

Logan finally stopped coughing and he and Roman exchanged a rare glance of mutual exasperation, ending their fight for the time being.

Patton, happy with his work, hummed to himself while making breakfast.

***

Remy was jumping and bouncing around his room, trying to blow off some steam.

It wasn’t working.

“Stupid Roman, always messing up my sleep schedule. Maybe I should just keep Thomas up all night before a show or something to see how he likes it!” Remy mumbled to himself, picking up a red pillow and throwing it at his wall.

He didn’t necessarily mean it. He never wanted to keep Thomas up, but the other sides would somehow mess something up whether it was Virgil being anxious about something, Patton watching Parks and Recreation, or a creative outburst from Roman. All of which annoyed him to no end.

Logan was the only one who wouldn’t do that. He was the only one who saw the importance of sleep by this point, along with a few of the darker sides.

Remy dramatically collapsed onto his floor which caused him to bounce a little before stilling.

Remy would say that he had, without a doubt, the best room in the mindscape. All the walls were upholstered in a velvet fabric that was a deep emerald green, his favorite color. The floor was a gigantic, fluffy, bouncy mattress that was always littered with pillows, stuffed toys, and blankets, all in varying colors, materials, and sizes.

And though Remy would never admit it, his prized possession was a giant, 10-foot stuffed bear that sat in the corner of his room that he named Ro. Not that he would confess to naming it that, either.

The ceiling, however, was his favorite part of the room. It showed him anything he wanted, no matter if it was imaginary or real. He often used it to star gaze, which was one of his favorite activities.

Currently, however, it was set to see what Thomas was doing… which was trying not to doze off while editing his current video project.

Remy felt annoyance surge through him again as he watched Thomas close his eyes for a “long blink.”

‘Maybe I’ll let him pass out right now to teach Roman a lesson.’

He sighed and clapped his hands together loudly, making Thomas open his eyes again. Remy could feel Thomas’s exhaustion filling his room and body and wanted more than anything to close his eyes and take a nap.

‘Logan would kill you and Roman will never learn his lesson.’ he reminded himself.

He fought down a yawn as he snapped his fingers to change the ceiling to something else. Anything else.

“God damn it!” he shouted as it changed to the mindscape kitchen and he saw Logan, Patton, and Roman standing around talking to each other.

He smiled smugly, however, as he saw Roman stifle a yawn and run a hand through his usually perfectly styled hair.

‘Serves you right, dipshit.’

“Volume on.” he projected into his room, putting his arms behind his head.

“You really shouldn’t keep Thomas up like that. This was the third time this week!” Logan exclaimed, crossing his arms.

Remy couldn’t agree more, but knew Roman wouldn’t agree as easily.

“Well I’m sorry if some of us have important work to deal with!” he argued, adding as much self importance to it as possible.

Remy snorted and his annoyance subsided a little, though he wouldn’t admit it. Roman was Roman, and Remy loved him just as much as he hated him.

Logan also snorted, although his was a little more aggressive than Remy’s had been.

“Why don’t you go tell Remy that? I’m sure he’d be so happy to hear about how much more important your work is than his. Or, better yet, why don’t you tell him about your ‘amazing project’ you spent almost all night on?” He said, his voice raising along with his anger.

“Ohhhhhhhhhh, tea sis.” Remy whispered to himself.

“Chill out, calculator watch! Remy understands that it’s important for me to do my thing, even if it occasionally means a few sleepless nights!”

Remy’s mouth dropped open.

‘Oh no he didn’t.’ he thought as he appeared in between the two in the kitchen, facing Roman.

“I’m sorry, what did you just say?” he asked, annoyance radiating in his voice and Roman jumped back, shocked at the sudden appearance and strong anger coming off of the other side.

“I- what? You were listening?” Roman asked.

“I didn’t get an answer. What. Did. You. Just. Say.” Remy said aggressively, stepping closer and closer to the other until he was a few inches away from his face.

Roman was silent, staring at Remy who wasn’t backing down.

“I… uhh…” Roman felt flustered. This was the closest the other had ever been to him and he couldn’t focus on anything else but Remy’s lips that were only a few mere inches away, feeling his face go red at the thought.

Not that he would admit that.

Remy felt a hand on his shoulder, but didn’t flinch or look away from Roman.

“Kiddo, why don’t you calm down a minute.” Patton said, tugging at his shoulder a bit.

Remy, whose anger was slowly dispersing at the others soothing touch, became hyper aware of how close he was to Roman and let Patton drag him back a few feet, feeling like his face was on fire.

Patton had a small smirk on his face as he looked at the two flustered sides who were trying to look anywhere but each other.

‘This is so pure.’ he thought silently to himself, trying not to cry.

***

Virgil had finally calmed down after a few minutes.

As the last of his tears left, he suddenly realized that he was being comforted by Deceit. The side he had hurt by being an overly anxious mess.

Yet here he was, being held in his loving and caring arms as he, of all people, cried.

Virgil slowly pried himself away from Deceit and put his glance on the floor once more.

“I’m sorry.” he mumbled quietly, not trusting himself to speak louder, knowing his voice would crack.

“For what?” Dee asked, so soft and caring that Virgil flinched.

Deceit lowered himself onto the floor and put his hands on Virgil’s shoulders, causing the other to jump and look up at him.

Virgil’s eyes, though red and swollen, also contained a look that Deceit recognized all to well.

Guilt.

Virgil, as if knowing he’d been found out, slammed his eyes closed and tried to duck his head back down, but Deceit quickly cupped his hands around Virgil’s face, keeping his head up. He still refused to open his eyes.

“It’s not your fault.” Deceit said softly, causing Virgil to snap his eyes back open and look at him.

“Of course it is.” Virgil responded, surprisingly calmly, but Deceit could see the turmoil of emotion behind his eyes.

‘My fault, my fault, my fault, my fault…’ the thought was playing over and over in Virgil’s head, ever since he remembered what he had done back in the kitchen.

Those thoughts stopped as he looked in Deceit’s forgiving eyes and he looked back.

Deceit stood up and took his hands off the others cheeks. Silently he sat on the bed and gave the spot next to him a pat.

Virgil obediently stood up and sat where the other had implied, not saying a word.

Virgil looked back at Deceit, who was still smiling at him.

“Why?” Virgil’s voice cracked ever so slightly.

Deceit looked around his room, thinking of an answer.

“You didn’t mean to. None of you did. All you guys ever did was be honest about the fact that you didn’t like me. I guess one day it all just… hit me, and I realized that what you guys were saying was true. That I am just… a snake.”

He looked down at the floor. He still didn’t know why he was telling Virgil of all sides any of this. He couldn’t say why he let him in in the first place. Why he responded to him at all to begin with.

He could have let Virgil walk away from the door last night, but he didn’t. He had responded. Still, he didn’t know why.

“Stop it.” Virgil said, and Deceit snapped his head up to look at the other, shocked at the response.

“You really think we understood what we were calling you? That we knew you well enough to have an accurate view of you? That we aren’t to blame for excluding you?”

“I…” Deceit was lost for words, simply staring open mouthed at the other.

“We… I misjudged you. When you first popped up in Patton’s place, I didn’t think through why you were there. I hadn’t considered why you felt that you had to pretend to be Patton to simply get us to listen to your view. I-”

Virgil took a deep breath before continuing.

“I let my anxiousness over your presence extend to the other sides and made them feel the same way.”

Virgil looked down at his hands, which were clasped in his lap.

“Do you remember after the video when you appeared in the common area?” Virgil quietly asked.

Deceit looked at Virgil confused.

“What do you mean? I was never in the common area after the video.

Virgil shook his head.

“Yes you were. It was me, Patton, and Logan. You came in to explain why you impersonated Patton. Patton was being nice as usual, and Logan didn’t mind you being there either, but I did. I didn’t trust you, I didn’t want you there. I was scared and… and my Cloud came out.” Virgil finished, ducking his head down in shame, and Deceit felt his jaw drop as he realized what Virgil was saying.

All the sides had a certain “power” they could utilize in specific situations. Virgil’s, by far, being the most dangerous.

If he felt threatened at anytime, he had the power to gain an influence over the other sides emotions, usually resulting in excess anxiety and the strong possibility of giving Thomas an anxiety attack.

Virgil, incredibly anxious and angry over Deceit’s presence and behavior, accidentally changed everyone’s emotions into hate and spite towards Deceit, including Deceit’s since he was present. None of them would remember it happening, though. Even Virgil wouldn’t remember it without being prompted in some way.

In most cases, once Virgil calms down, everyone’s emotions go back to being their own. Or at least they should.

Except Deceit’s didn’t. He still felt the same self loathing that Virgil had filled him with that day.

Deceit sat pondering this thought for a second before he heard Virgil beside him.

“It’s all my fault. You probably hate me now, so I’m just gonna go.” Virgil said, his voice dry and cracked from crying.

He stood up, about to disappear into his own room, when he felt a hand land on his wrist.

He flinched, expecting to be pulled back down and punched or kicked. He deserved it after all.

Instead, he heard Deceit softly say in a frightened, nervous voice, “Please. Please don’t leave me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHEW!  
> honestly, this chapter was really hard to write. i'm not sure if it was because i had a rough school week (rip to me and my grades lol) or just because a lot happens in this chapter, but this one took a while.
> 
> i definitely feel like i could've done better, but i'm pretty happy with my end result :)
> 
> (also, i don't know if you can tell, but i'm trying to develop the other relationships more instead of just focusing on dee and virge)
> 
> hope you enjoyed! next chapter out soon (hopefully) :D


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil and Deceit talk a bit more while Remy and Roman cause mayhem.
> 
> WARNINGS:  
> swearing, sympathetic deceit, slight panic  
> (TELL ME IF I FORGOT SOMETHING!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is really fluffy because i was in a fluff mood when writing :P  
> (also, sorry this is a bit later than i intended! i was lazy...)

“Please. Please don’t leave me.” Deceit said pleadingly, grabbing onto Virgil’s wrist.

‘I can’t be alone again. Please don’t leave me alone again.’ he thought.

Virgil could only stand there, rooted to the spot.

‘He… he still wants me here?’ he thought, thankful yet confused.

“Why do you still want me here? It… It’s all my fault. You should-”

“Hate you?” Deceit said and Virgil turned to see the other smirking up at him, amused.

“Yeah?” Virgil said uncertainty.

“For, what? Accidentally using a power that you can’t control?” he said, his mouth twitching as he held back laughter.

“Well… yeah.” Virgil said looking down at the floor, his guilt twinging at his heart. He couldn’t understand why Deceit seemed so amused.

Deceit snorted, as if hearing Virgil’s thoughts.

“Stop it. You have nothing to do with how I’m feeling.” he said, bringing his legs to his chest and wrapping his arms around them.

“What do you mean? I made you feel like-like…” Virgil spastically moved his arms as he tried to think of how to phrase it.

“Like a piece of shit?” Deceit offered with a small smile.

Virgil stopped moving around and looked at Deceit with a tense frown.

“Yeah, that.” he said, running a hand through his hair and sitting on the ground.

Deceit frowned as he looked at Virgil wrap himself into a ball, his head resting on his knees.

“You’re power can only last as long as we’re in the bubble, right?” Deceit asked.

“Yeah, why?” Virgil said with strain in his voice.

“Well then… doesn’t that mean that after your bubble faded, my emotions would go back to normal?” Deceit said carefully.

Virgil’s eyes went wide as he looked at Deceit, who had a small, caring smile on his face.

“Oh.” was all Virgil could get out.

“So, what does that mean Virge?” Deceit implored, trying to fight his growing grin.

“I-It’s not… my fault.” Virgil said, smile forming as it sunk in. “It’s not my fault!” he said jumping up and hugging Deceit tightly.

Deceit jumped, startled by the sudden touch, but smiled and leaned into it, wrapping his arms around Virgil.

“Well, at least not fully…” Virgil whispered, grin starting to disappear as he pulled away from the hug.

Deceit laughed.

“Yeah, you guys were assholes.” Deceit jokingly said, winking at Virgil.

“Oh, shut up.” Virgil mumbled, looking at the ground.

Virgil looked up at Deceit through his eyelashes and couldn’t help but smile.

‘I guess things can only go up from here, right?’ he thought, surprisingly optimistically, to himself.

***

“You calm now?” Patton asked, unable to hide his smirk.

Remy, despite his red face, played cool.

“Of course, sweetcakes. At least until Roman opens his mouth.” he said, glaring at Roman with as much annoyance he could muster.

Oh boy, was it hard though. Sure, Roman annoyed the living hell out of him, but man was he cute.

Roman, face equally as flushed as Remy’s, didn’t look up or speak.

“Do you have something you want to say Roman?” Logan asked, trying to hide his own amusement from his voice.

Roman looked up at Logan and then looked at Remy quickly before looking back down at the floor, playing with his sweatpants string.

“I’m, uh… I’m sorry I kept Thomas up last night.” Roman said, looking back up at Logan who motioned for him to continue.

“And, I, uh… I… won’t do it again?” Roman said with uncertainty, still looking at Logan who gave him a curt nod.

Remy made a small tongue click and shook his head slightly.

“I swear to god Princy, you better stick to that. Remember, they’ll never find your body.” Remy said smirking. Not that he was kidding.

Roman finally looked up at Remy and gave him a timid smile before falling back to his usual behavior and loud eccentricities.

Remy rolled his eyes as he conjured a Starbucks Iced Coffee. With the night he had, he definitely needed it.

***

Roman, Remy, Logan, and Patton all ate breakfast together in relative silence. Mostly, Logan and Patton talked about Thomas’s schedule that day.

Roman left first, excusing himself to go shower and get dressed.

When he made it back to his room, he put his back against the door and slowly slid down it until he was sitting on the floor.

“Ughhhhhhhhh, I’m such a gay idiot!” Roman yelled, resting his face against his knees.

He thought back to Remy, his face inches away from his own, and felt his face go red.

“AHHH!!!” he yelled out in frustration, standing up and falling face first in his bed.

‘Why does he have to be so flipping adorable?’ he thought, shoving a pillow over his head.

‘Would it even work out if we got together? What would our ship name even be?’ he thought, distracting himself from the somewhat embarrassing moment from earlier. He flipped onto his back and stared at his high vaulted ceiling.

‘Reman? No, that sucks. Romy?’ Maybe, but he felt there was something better.

He sat thinking for a while while hugging his pillow to his chest.

He realized the classic name combination wasn’t going to work, so started to brainstorm what they both stood for instead and combining it together.

‘Valiant Dreams? No, definitely not. Fanciful Dreams? Ehh, it’s okay. Daydreams? Cute, but still…’

He groaned in frustration.

“If we can’t have a cute ship name, can we even be together?” Roman yelled, dramatically throwing his arms into the air.

“Whatcha talking about Prince Half Brain?” Remy said, appearing next to Roman on his bed and sipping his third coffee that morning.

“Woah!” Roman shouted, rolling off the bed and hitting the floor hard with a small “Oofh.”

Remy laughed, grabbing Roman’s arm and helping to pull him back onto the bed.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Did I scare you?” he said, smirking and tilting his sunglasses down to look at Roman over his frames.

Roman huffed.

“YOU-” he said pointing at Remy, “need to stop appearing in my room without permission!”

Remy rolled his eyes and took a sip from his coffee.

“Please gurl, it was polite of me to even grace you with my presence. Now, what the hell are you yelling about in here?”

Roman, who had been getting ready to retaliate, found his words get lost before they reached his mouth, leaving his mouth hanging open as he stammered, his face growing red.

“Ahh, um, nothing. Just an idea.” he said, looking down.

Remy scoffed and rolled his eyes.

“Anything you oh-so-desperately need to work on?” he asked, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

Roman felt his blush move down his neck, but cleared his throat and looked up.

“Probably, but I’d be willing to put it aside if there’s something you’d rather do.” Roman said, trying to add as much gusto as he could muster to hide his nervousness.

Remy looked taken aback for a minute before a devilish smile grew on his face.

“Oh, honey, you should not have said that.” he said, mischievous intent shining in his eyes.

“What, why? What are we doing?” Roman asked, eyes growing wide and fear itching at him.

Remy kept smiling, quickly grabbing Roman’s arm before he could react and sinking out of the room with him.

***

Logan finished eating breakfast and got up to make himself a second cup of coffee.

“Do you want a cup Patton?” he asked, grabbing both of their plates to put in the sink on his way.

“Ah, thanks Logan, but I probably shouldn’t. Too much caffeine.” he said smiling and standing up.

“How about a cup of tea then?” Logan responded.

Patton thought for a second before nodding over enthusiastically.

“Thanks Lo!” he said, placing a quick hand on Logan’s shoulder as he grabbed the plates from his arms and made his way toward the kitchen with them.

Logan felt a smile tug his lips as he turned toward the kitchen and followed.

“I was gonna bring those plates in you know.” he said.

Patton turned to Logan after setting the plates in the sink. “I know.” he said, sticking out his tongue and smiling wide.

Logan rolled his eyes and fought a grin as he went about the kitchen to prepare their drinks.

Patton put on rubber gloves and turned on the sink, waiting for the water to heat up. He leaned against the sink and turned to Logan.

“Do you think we should check on Virge and Dee? They haven’t left Dee’s room in a while.” Patton said, worry shining on his face and in his body posture.

Logan felt a small urge to hug the other, but instead adjusted his tie and leaned against the opposite counter.

“Let's give it some time. It’s only been a couple of hours since Virgil was out here last. We don’t want to ruin any progress he may be making with Deceit.” he said.

Patton loosened his face into a tiny small and gave a small, silent nod.

“You’re right. You always are.” he said, smile growing a bit as he turned back around to begin the dishes.

Logan didn’t notice the small blush that crept up his neck as he turned to the now whistling kettle.

***

Even though Virgil felt immensely better that it wasn’t his powers fault for Deceit’s current mental state, he still felt a stab of guilt, knowing that he had been his fair share of cruel to Deceit in the past.

Virgil, after ending his hug with Deceit, turned to the bedside table and saw the now cold food sitting there.

“Ah, shit.” he mumbled and picked up the two plates. “I’ll go heat this up.” he said, turning to leave the room.

“I don’t really care.” Deceit said, not really wanting Virgil to leave again.

Virgil turned to look at him and gave a small smile. He hadn’t really felt like talking to the others, who were most likely waiting for some sort of news on Deceit.

“Well, I guess this is all imaginary.” he said as he walked over to the bed and gave Deceit a plate of food.

Deceit felt a bubble of hunger hit him and happiness coursed through his body. It had been so long since he actually wanted to eat.

He slowly stabbed an egg with his fork and put it in his mouth, closing his eyes and chewing slowly, savoring the taste. He felt a small smile growing on his face. Nothing had ever tasted better.

After swallowing, he looked up to see Virgil looking at him with a small grin.

Virgil jumped as Deceit met his eyes. He quickly looked down at his own plate as he stabbed an egg and quickly shoved it in his mouth, looking everywhere but Deceit.

Deceit smirked as he went back to eating, occasionally glancing up at Virgil through his eyelashes. Everytime, he would see Virgil looking at him like he was going to say something then looking away.

After the third time he caught Virgil looking at him, he couldn’t hold back a laugh and grin.

“Why do you keep looking at me?” he asked.

Virgil tried to hold back his wince when he realized he’d been caught.

“What do you mean?” he asked as, feigning confusion as he looked at the other who looked amused.

“Really? Lying? Have you forgotten who you’re with?” Deceit said.

Virgil rolled his eyes as he set his half eaten food on the bedside table. He curled his legs to his chest and hugged himself, looking at Deceit for a minute. Studying him.

“You… you look a lot better right now then you did earlier.” Virgil finally said, adjusting his gaze towards his feet.

Deceit’s eyes widened and his smile slipped for a second before his eyes lit up and he beamed at Virgil.

When Virgil looked back up, he felt his heart jump. He hadn’t seen Deceit smile like that for a long time. That smile and mischievous light in his eyes that had scared him in the past now filled Virgil with a happiness he didn’t know he could possess.

Virgil couldn’t help the smile that fell across his face as he looked at the other side. He almost reminded Virgil of Patton with his eyes all bright like that.

Virgil wondered why he had ever been scared of him.

“Thanks.” Deceit said, also putting his food down and reaching for the water bottle. He drained the bottle quickly and then fell onto his bed with a happy sigh.

Virgil, still wrapped in a ball, fell onto his side next to Deceit and looked at him. His eyes were closed and a small smile was still on his face. His skin, though still pale, didn’t have the unhealthy tinge that it had earlier and his scales seemed a bit shinier. The bags under his eyes had greatly diminished and his eyes were no longer red and puffy.

Virgil knew it would probably take time for Deceit to regain his full health, but the fact that he already looked so much better after only half a day made Virgil feel warm.

Their moment of comfortable silence was soon destroyed when a huge boom shook the room.

Deceit and Virgil both shot up off the bed and looked toward the door where the noise had come from.

Virgil looked at Deceit and then quietly walked to the door and opened it a crack, peering down the hallway.

Deceit hesitated a minute before following and peering out the crack below Virgil.

There was black smoke emanating from the living room and filling the corridor, too thick to see through besides four figures.

“WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?!?!?!” they heard Logan scream as he ran into the corridor, covering his nose with his shirt. He was covered in black dust and his glasses were shattered.

Patton trailed behind, holding onto the back of Logan’s shirt with one hand while his other hand also held up his shirt to his nose. He was also covered in the black dust, but slightly less so than Logan.

Remy and Roman both popped up in the corridor, dust free, and laughing. At least, Remy was laughing. Roman on the other hand had silent tears rolling down his cheeks and was hunched over as he tried to breathe.

Logan tried to glare at the two, but found he couldn’t tell who was who with his broken glasses, so he settled to pinching the bridge of his nose instead.

“You both better explain the meaning of all this right now, or else…” Logan said, letting the warning hang in the air with Remy’s laughter and a few coughs from Patton.

“We-didn’t-” was all Roman could get out before he started silently laughing more.

“That wasn’t supposed to happen!” Remy said incredulously, still manically laughing. He slid down the wall until he was sitting on the floor, now matching Roman in his silent laughter and crying.

Only Patton saw how Logan tensed up. Saw his nails digging into his arms as his anger increased.

“Hey- hey, Lo.” Patton said gently, putting his hand on his shoulder and lightly squeezing.

Logan felt Patton’s calming energy wash over him and felt his body slowly relax. Logan stretched out his fingers, wincing as his nails pulled out of his skin. He looked over to Patton who was drawing circles on his back now and smiling encouragingly at him.

“Thanks Patton.” he whispered, giving a small grin.

“No problem, Lo.” Patton whispered back.

Patton silently gave a quick look towards the end of the hall and saw Virgil and Deceit both peeping out the door and jumped excitedly.

“Dee!” he shouted, clapping his hands.

Although he was still mostly hidden behind Virgil, Patton saw him jump and quickly give a small wave, accompanied by a small, sheepish grin.

Logan looked towards the end of the hallway, but only saw the blurry colors of the hallway.

Roman, at hearing Deceit’s name, calmed down just enough to look to the end of the hallway to see Deceit and Virgil.

“H-h-hey Dee.” Roman weakly got out before falling onto the floor next to Remy, taking many breaths as he tried to stop laughing.

Remy also started to calm down a bit, wiping tears from his eyes and draping an arm across Roman’s shoulders and leaning into him.

“That was too good. I wasn’t expecting that big of an explosion.” he got out breathlessly.

Roman nodded, smiling and trying to fight back more laughter that threatened to come out.

Logan sighed again.

“I’m only asking this one more time. WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU JUST DO?!?!” Logan screamed again, though less angry than before and more annoyed.

“LANGUAGE!” Patton screamed immediately, causing Virgil to give a small snort, sending all but Logan into laughter.

‘He just snorted, what’s happening?’ he thought to himself, looking around at his mad counterparts.

That was when Patton also snorted and Logan joined in on the laughter, though he would never admit to it if it ever got brought up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah, a bit later than i wanted, but i got distracted and lazy and went on a huge fan fic binge read whoops lol :P
> 
> this chapter doesn't really focus that much on Dee because really wanted to write some fluff, but i promise that angst will return soon :D :P


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman and Remy kind of explain themselves, Logan is pissed, Patton is adorable, and more plot development happens between Virgil and Dee (and Roman and Remy too I guess?).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: pretty light swearing but a few f-bombs, anger, descriptions of blackout, sympathetic deceit, kinda body harm(really nothing at all, but thought I should mention it a bit)
> 
> PLEASE TELL ME IF I FORGOT SOMETHING!!!

After everyone calmed down, Roman returned the common area back to how it was, as well as fixing Logan’s broken glasses.

Apparently, Remy had dreamed up, with Roman’s help, a smoke bomb. They thought it’d be funny to see Logan go from prim and proper to sooty and messy.

It was even better than they thought it would be.

Logan had gotten most of the blow as, once the odd object had landed in the room and Remy and Roman disappeared, he immediately shoved Patton behind him, assuming that whatever it was would be no good

Virgil slowly closed the door to Deceit’s room, turning to look at Deceit with amusement all over his features. Deceit’s eyes were shining, once again filled with that mischievous light that lit up his face into that of boyish joy.

From the common area, they could hear Logan begin to chew out Roman and Remy once again, with laughter coming from the two as Logan recounted what they had ‘done wrong.’

Virgil and Deceit remained staring at each other a moment longer before they too burst into uncontrollable laughter.

“Did you see Logan?” Virgil made out breathily, clutching his side.

Deceit could only nod and smile, tears starting to fall out of his eyes and his face in a huge grin as he silently laughed, unable to breath properly.

Virgil and Deceit both fell to the floor as they laughed silently, trying to breath.

After a minute, Deceit finally got a small breath in.

“Th-that was too much.” he shakily said, his body jerking in small laughing spasms.

Virgil nodded, taking in a few shaky breaths.

“Oh God, Logan must be furious!” Virgil exclaimed, once again falling into uncontrollable laughter with Deceit.

***

“I swear to God, one of you better start telling me WHY you thought that was a good idea!” Logan yelled, arms crossed and nails digging into his skin.

Remy answered, trying to contain his laughter.

“Uhhhh, it was fucking hilarious?” he said as though it was obvious, a smile tugging at his lips.

Logan felt like his blood was on fire, boiling and raising in temperature with his anger.

“That is not a reason to nearly blow us all up!” he yelled, ignoring the black spots in his vision.

Remy stole a quick glance at Patton who had started to move towards Logan with speed in his step and a concerned face. That’s when the guilt hit him.

Logan had always been nothing but nice to Remy, and here he was playing a stupid-but hilarious- prank on him. And why?

Roman, either not noticing or not caring for the tension that had fallen in the room, laughed a joyous laugh and Remy felt his own grin tug at his face, guilt nearly forgotten.

“It was hilarious! We were just trying to get you to loosen up, Teach!” he exclaimed, grinning ear to ear.

Logan felt his vision start to swim as a dark blue aura started to take shape around him. Before it could fully form, however, he felt his arms being pulled away from their crossed position and someone rubbing the spots where his nails had dug into his flesh. His vision improved slightly and there he saw Patton in front of him, smiling encouragingly at him.

“Are you back Lo?” he asked quietly, a softness to his voice that Logan focused on to bring himself down.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out as he felt Patton’s wave of soothing energy fall over him. Slowly, the blue aura around him faded away into the air.

“Yeah, I’m here.” he finally said, opening his eyes to see Patton smiling happily at him, still rubbing the spots on his skin where his nails had dug in.

Logan suddenly realized that no one was laughing anymore and inquisitively looked past Patton to see Remy and Roman both looking… guilty? He wasn’t sure if he was reading their faces correctly.

Patton, seeing Logan looking at the two, turned to face them while keeping one hand on Logan’s arm.

“Do you kids have something to say to Logan?” he asked in his fatherly tone.

The two boys looked at each other before looking at the floor guiltily.

“I’m sorry, Logan.” Remy finally said, looking Logan in the eyes and all sarcasm dropped from his voice. “It was my idea and I didn’t think through how it may possibly hurt anyone.” he stood up and walked over to Logan. Quietly, he held out his hand and Logan, after a second, shook it. Remy tentatively smiled and Logan returned it with a small nod of his head.

There was silence for a moment before Roman heaved a great sigh and also stood up, his eyes trained on the floor.

“I, too, should apologize. While it was funny, I now see that it caused you distress and that was not the intention. I’m sorry, Logan.” he said, looking up at Logan for the last part, whose face was shocked at first, but slowly melted into a small smile.

“Thank you, Roman.” he said, and Roman gave a tiny smile.

Patton released a relieved sigh and then clapped his hands together.

“Now that that’s taken care of, it’s almost time for lunch! What do you all want?” he asked, looking happily around at the sides.

Remy, Roman, and Logan gave a small glance to each other and Logan gave a small cough to clear his throat.

“Uh, Patton. Aren’t you forgetting something?” Logan asked. Patton gave him a confused look and Logan gestured to his person. Patton looked down, realizing he was still covered in black dust.

“Oh right!” he said with a laugh. “Guess we should probably go clean up first, right Lo?”

“Yes, I do believe that should be out first step. I’ll help you make lunch when we’re all cleaned up, if you would like my assistance.”

Patton gave a small squeal in excitement.

“You want to cook with me? Sure!” he said and skipped to the bathroom, his heart beating with a new found purpose.

Roman chuckled as he watched Logan stare after Patton with a small smile on his face.

“I always shipped Johnlock.” he stage whispered to Remy who laughed and Logan looked over confused.

“What does that mean? Is this more slang that I need to learn?” he said, reaching for his flashcards in his pocket.

“Don’t worry about it cupcake.” Remy said winking.

And with those words, though Logan wasn’t exactly worried, he did feel significantly more uneasy.

At least until he saw Patton skip out of the bathroom without his cardigan or glasses on because he forgot his towel and Logan forgot what he was supposed to be concerned about.

***

As Patton ran back to the bathroom, towel in hand, he quickly let his hand brush over Logan’s shoulder.

It was only once he closed the door to the bathroom and was once again alone that he let out a silent squeal and jumped up and down.

‘Logan wants to cook with me!!!’ he thought, holding back tears as his smile grew impossibly larger.

He looked up at himself in the mirror and was taken aback by how much less covered in dust he was than Logan had been.

While Logan had looked like the inside of a chimney that hadn’t been cleaned in a while, Patton simply looked like he had hidden under a particularly dusty bed.

He still didn’t understand why Logan had stepped in front of him, blocking him from most of the blow. It’s not like any of them could really get damaged by physical attacks.

And yet, Logan had protected Patton. The thought alone made Patton giddy and happy as he sat smiling at his own reflection.

While he was confused as to why Logan made him feel so happy, he could accept it wasn’t his job to really understand why and he hummed a small tune to himself as he got ready to shower, his smile never leaving his face.

***

“I can’t believe we pushed Logan that far over the edge.” Roman said as he collapsed onto Remy’s floor, bouncing slightly as he did so.

“Gurl, same. I didn’t think it would make him THAT angry!” Remy responded while kicking his door closed and sitting with his back leaning against the wall, sipping yet another iced coffee.

“Did you see the way he looked at Patton though?” Remy said, leaning forward and tilting his glasses down his nose so his eyes were peering over the top.

Roman couldn’t help staring into his sparkling green eyes for a second, simply admiring the shining beauty they possessed.

“I know! He’s got it so bad!” he exclaimed jumping up to his knees and throwing his arms out dramatically, causing Remy to snicker.

“They both got it bad though. I can’t believe they haven’t noticed yet!” Roman said, falling onto his elbows and resting his head in his hands.

“I know, it’s so frickin obvious!” Remy said, looking at Roman who gave a small nod of his head.

Roman suddenly looked up at Remy, head popping up in excitement as a thought hit him.

“What do you think Virgil and Deceit are doing?” he asked, grin tugging his lips.

Remy took a sip of his coffee, trying to hide his own growing smile.

“Why don’t we find out?” he said and Roman let out an excited, “Yes!” as flipped on his back to look at the ceiling. Remy snapped his fingers and fell onto his back next to him, his coffee disappearing into thin air.

The ceiling switched from the common area to Deceit’s room and Roman was a bit underwhelmed with what he saw.

Deceit was lounging on the floor, watching as Virgil trailed his hand on the wall as he walked around the room and took in everything.

“Sound on.” Remy said and Deceit’s voice filled the room.

“Are you sure? I don’t think-” Deceit started, sounding unsure and hesitant, but Virgil cut him off with a delicate but firm voice.

“Yes, I’m sure. Yes they want you there. No, you can’t get out of it. You need to see them eventually anyway.” Virgil stopped as his hand made it to the piano.

It really was a beautiful piano. The wood was dark and shiny and the keys were perfectly white and black, having been protected from dust by the keyboard cover. The top was closed, keeping the inside clean from the dust that covered the outside. Virgil ran his hand over the top, pulling up quite a few layers of dust.

“Can you play?” Virgil asked and looked at Deceit, who had a wistful, longing look on his face.

He looked up at Virgil and slowly stood up and walked over to his desk. He opened the drawer and pulled out a booklet of paper and walked over to stand next to Virgil.

Slowly, he dragged the sleeve of his hoodie across the top to clean off the dust and propped it open, revealing the soundboard. He then set down the packet of paper, which Virgil now knew was sheet music, on the stand. Wiping the seat off, he sat down slowly and turned to face the piano, his fingers brushing over the keys gently.

He looked up at Virgil, as though hesitant. Virgil just gave him a small, encouraging smile and Deceit nodded with a small smile in return.

He turned back to the piano and opened up the music to the first page. His hands moved into position on the piano and, sparing one last glance at Virgil, he pressed the first few notes.

The tune felt eerily familiar to Virgil. He knew he knew it from somewhere, he just couldn’t place it.

As the tune, in turn, filled Remy’s room, Roman jumped in excitement and awe.

“That’s the song from Corpse Bride! The piano one that, uhhh, Victor plays!” he said and Remy looked over to see Roman smiling up at the ceiling.

“So… what? He watches the same movies Thomas does afterall.” Remy said, somewhat confused by Roman’s reaction.

Roman’s smile dropped for a moment as he considered this. He’d never really thought of Deceit as a part of Thomas the way that he thought of all of them as a part of Thomas. He even considered Remy more a part of Thomas than Deceit, even though Remy was only a figment. Not even a side.

A new feeling filled Roman. One he wasn’t quite sure what it was. He wasn’t sad, but he felt… bad. That is the only way he could think to describe it.

To avoid concentrating on it too much, he quickly pulled his attention back to the ceiling.

Deceit, although he had pulled the music out earlier, appeared to have no need for it. His eyes were closed and his fingers appeared to dance across the keyboard, each thrum of a key accompanied by a beautiful, melodic tune.

Virgil had moved to sit next to Deceit on the stool. His eyes were also closed as the calming sound washed over him, making him feel at ease.

When the song should have been over, Deceit seamlessly slipped into another song with a slightly more upbeat tune. This one Virgil did, surprisingly, know. He opened his eyes and turned to look at Deceit who had a knowing smile on his face, even though his eyes were still closed. Virgil smiled and closed his eyes again, letting the sad, soothing sounds of Ice Dance fall over him.

Virgil could’ve stayed there forever, listening to Deceit play the piano. In his entire existence, he couldn’t remember a time he had felt as at peace as he did then.

At the end of the song, Deceit stopped playing and opened his eyes to look at Virgil. His eyes were still closed and there was a faint smile on his face.

Virgil slowly opened his eyes and looked at Deceit, who was still staring at him. They sat there, looking at each other a moment longer. Virgil’s brown eyes pouring into Deceit’s.

Before either of them really knew what was happening, Virgil was leaning forward and pressing his lips into Deceit’s and Deceit was doing the same.

From the common area, Logan and Patton, who were both about to start lunch, heard a huge crash come from Remy’s room and a scream of, “HOLY MOTHER OF SHIT, WHAT THE FUCK?!?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow, this is later than I wanted it to be :p sorry about that! I kinda had a tiny writers block for a hot minute and then inspiration struck and I'm procrastinating school work and I also finally got sleep so weeeee!!! that was a ramble, I'm sorry :p
> 
> I hope you like this chapter! the plot is thickening, ain't it ;D


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman and Remy development happening, but is it for better or for worst? Virgil and Deceit are just overall cute and maybe we get a sneak peak into the next chapters to come?
> 
> Oh, and a bit of Logan 'angst' and Patton has a cool little power ;)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS:  
> swearing, feelings of guilt, sympathetic deceit, light angst
> 
> (PLEASE TELL ME IF I FORGOT SOMETHING)

The kiss was simple. Passionate but gentle, sweet but short.

It wasn’t long before they were slowly splitting apart, eyes fluttering open to look at the other.

Neither felt pressure to escalate further, instead simply enjoying the closeness they felt. Enjoying the connection they had formed.

Roman and Remy, on the other hand, had a lot more to say.

Remy had immediately screamed in shock, however his face gave way to amusement.

“No. Fucking. Way!” he shouted, a huge smile on his face as he stared at Roman.

Roman could only stare up at the ceiling with his mouth hanging open.

“I… Did I just see that?” he finally asked, voice quiet as he tried to decipher the emotion bubbling in his chest.

“If you just saw one of your main ships sailing, then yes.” was all Remy said as he conjured a journal. He quickly wrote something down in it, then let it disappear again.

Roman sat stunned for a minute, letting the image settle in his mind. Of Deceit getting close to Virgil like that. At first, it simply made him uncomfortable.

Sure, he was willing to admit that he hadn’t acted particularly… princely, towards Deceit and was willing to at least attempt to be friendlier towards him. That doesn’t mean that he trusted him. He would still willingly use his sword on him. Only if necessary, of course.

Just as he was about to voice his opinion on the matter, he was suddenly bombarded with another thought.

‘Their ship name is Anxceit. That’s… actually not too bad.’ 

It was that simple thought alone that changed Roman’s mind all together. His opinion towards Deceit and Virgil’s new found fondness for each other quickly changing from that of distrust to one of understanding and excitement. After all, if the ship name isn’t bad, then how could the relationship itself be bad?

Not to mention… Remy seemed pretty excited...

“Anxceit… the ship is sailing.” he finally said, slowly letting it process. His face quickly changed into a wide smile as the words started to meld with his memory of them kissing.

“Anxceit. THE SHIP IS SAILING REMY!!!” he shouted, having finally found his full voice. He quickly shot up and jumped at Remy, tackling him into a hug.

Remy felt himself blush as he hugged Roman back.

Neither of them heard the tentative knock at the door, Patton and Logan having come to investigate all the shouting.

“Are you two fighting again?” Patton asked, fatherly voice coming out as he opened the door. Quickly, his parental appearance turned into that of a squealing child as he saw his two sons embracing and blushing on the floor.

“Ohhhhhhhhhhh!!! Did you two finally tell each other?” he asked excitedly, happy for them to finally have figured out their true feelings for each other.

The two blushing messes looked up at Patton with equally confused and anxious looks.

“What do you mean padre?” Roman asked as casually as possible, still hugging Remy.

“Oh come on, you don’t have to pretend with me!” Patton said with a small whine and frown that quickly melted into another bright smile.

Logan gave a small cough and everyone turned to look at him.

“I suggest you two stop beating about the bush and simply tell us that you finally admitted your feelings towards each other.” he stated in his usual robotic tone, however his lips had curved into a slight smile.

There was silence for a moment before the two hugging men quickly jumped away from each other and started sputtering their denials and excuses.

“I- what do you mean by that? I don’t know what you’re talking about…”

“What? I don’t know what you’re trying to insinuate! I mean, we were just…”

Logan raised his eyebrow and, effectively cutting off the nearly unintelligible tangents of the two, said, “What? Didn’t you two finally tell each other that you each hold a certain... infatuation with one another?”

Both Roman and Remy stared open mouthed at the logical side, unable to find words to deny what the other was saying.

At least, until Roman took notice of the wording Logan had used.

“Wait… Remy… Likes me?” he asked, his brain trying to form the words in his shocked state.

“Of course I do!” Remy snapped and all heads turned to look at the tense figment, his cheeks tinged red with embarrassment and anger.

Remy refused to make eye contact with any of them as he went to storm past Patton and Logan, both of them still standing in the doorway. He paused briefly next to the confused Logan.

“I thought I could trust you.” he said, walking out and slamming the door closed.

***

Virgil felt his pulse quicken at the same time Deceit felt his vocal chords lock up.

Something was wrong.

Destroying whatever moment they had just shared, they both jumped up and started to head towards Deceit’s television. They both felt it. Something was wrong and they were needed.

Before they took a step, Remy appeared and fell on the bed, arm draped across his eyes.

“You two split it up, I need to vent.” he said, voice lacking its usual pep and sass and instead giving way to the betrayal and sadness he felt.

While Virgil stood still for a second, shocked by the seemingly sudden and random appearance of the figment, Deceit jumped into action as though he were on autopilot. He made his way over to the bed and conjured a coffee, which he handed to the other as he sat down next to him.

“Is this common?” Virgil asked and Deceit shrugged his shoulders as he propped his arms underneath him.

“Maybe once a month or so.” he replied and Remy made a shushing sound.

“Don’t expose me more than I already have been.” he said, some of his sass back as he took a sip of his coffee.

‘Does that mean that Remy knew about Deceit’s issues and never told us?’ Virgil thought with a softly boiling anger.

Before he could say anything on the subject matter, Remy set down the already half drunk coffee and put his head down on Deceit’s lap as he curled into a ball.

Deceit started to brush his fingers through Remy’s hair and Virgil saw Remy’s shoulders drop and Virgil felt his own heart beat drop.

“Oh, you’re the one I was feeling.” Virgil mumbled, his anger temporarily forgotten. “Hmm, at, you were.” he added on as his heart started to pick up speed again.

Virgil closed his eyes and cleared his mind to allow the thoughts of whoever he was feeling to come through.

‘... oh god, he must hate me! there’s no way he actually likes me back and he just got mad at logan because of me and it’s all my fault…’

Virgil’s popped his eyes open and Roman’s thoughts stopped spinning through his head.

“Who is it?” Deceit asked.

“Roman.” Virgil said and Remy’s head popped up a little bit.

“Wh… What’s he anxious about?” Remy asked, his voice shaking a bit and Virgil felt his heart beat pick up even more from Remy.

“He… he thinks you hate him and-” Virgil thought a second, wondering if he should tell him. He sighed as he looked at the anxious Remy and continued. “And he’s concerned you don’t actually… like him back.”

Remy looked at Virgil with shock, before a huge smile grew on his face.

“That stupid idiot.” he mumbled, seemingly to himself, and he disappeared from the room quicker than a blink.

Virgil looked to Deceit and saw him looking at him with a mischievous grin forming on his face.

“What?” Virgil asked, cheeks flaring pink.

“We’re alone again.” he said, moving over on the bed and patting the spot next to him.

Virgil felt his face flush an even deeper color of red, but he slowly made his way over to sit next to him.

As Virgil sat down, Deceit wrapped his arm around him and Virgil leaned into the touch, shoving himself into Deceit’s chest and taking in a deep breath.

Deceit let out a small laugh and wrapped both arms around Virgil, pulling him closer to his body and let out a contented sigh as he felt Virgil snuggle further into him.

***

“Hey Ro, I made you some hot chocolate!” Patton said cheerily as he set the mug on the coffee table next to the sofa that currently held a disheveled Roman.

“Thanks Pat.” he said and Patton had to stop himself from reacting to Roman’s breaking voice.

“No problem, kiddo.” Patton replied instead and walked back to the kitchen.

“You do realize you can’t drown out your emotions with coffee, right Lo?” Patton jokingly said, despite his worry, as he walked in to see Logan drinking his fourth cup of coffee that day and adding more water to the kettle.

Logan gave a small frown and said, “Emotions? I am Logic, I don’t work the same way you, the others, and Thomas do.”

Patton felt his lips curl in on themselves as he tried to keep his emotions in check, knowing Logan only fought acknowledging his emotions when he was really upset.

Patton gave a small sigh. He was going to have to pry this time, knowing Logan wouldn’t open up unless forced.

Patton took a deep breath to brace himself and then slid off his glasses. Immediately, he saw world turn into blackness, excluding the bright green aura that was currently emanating from where he knew Logan to be standing.

Green, the color of guilt.

Patton, not bothering to put back on his glasses, ran towards the center of the green aura and, clumsily, wrapped his arms around Logan.

“Patton-” Logan exclaimed, startled.

“It’s not your fault!” Patton rushed, not letting Logan worm out of this conversation. “We both went in there and we both assumed the same thing. It’s not your fault that we guessed wrong!”

He felt Logan slump into his embrace just a little.

“He trusted me, Patton. He didn’t want anyone to know, least of all Roman, and I just used the information he trusted me with infront of him. He probably thinks I told you, too.” Logan finally opened up, holding back his tears.

Patton watched as the bright green turned into a turquoise as a blue hue of sadness filled it. This only cause Patton to hug him tighter.

He wasn’t afraid of squeezing Logan into feeling better if it came down to it.

Before Patton could fully comprehend what was happening, Logan had quickly turned around and burrowed his face into Patton’s neck. Patton felt tears spring into his eyes as he felt small droplets of water hitting his neck where Logan was.

“I-It hur-rts Pat-ton…” Logan got out between small, quiet sobs that shook his body.

“I know, mon étoile, I know.” Patton made out, not bothering to try and keep the tremor out of his voice.

He felt Logan breath out a small chuckle and Patton felt the tightness in his throat disperse somewhat.

“French?” he asked so quietly, Patton almost missed it.

“Yeah.” Patton let out with a little chuckle. “It’s about all I know though.”

“Hmmm.” Logan hummed thoughtfully. “Why would you only know the French word for ‘star’ though? I mean, it’s not exactly the most used word in the language.” he asked.

Patton felt his face heat up, not wanting to tell him that he only learned it so that he could call Logan it, but also not wanting to lie.

Thankfully for him, at that moment there was a loud crash from the other room and a small exclamation of surprise that was almost immediately cut off.

Logan jumped off of Patton and went running to the doorway. Patton, still mostly blind, clumsily made his way towards Logan’s turquoise aura as he fumbled with putting back on his glasses, not noticing the red-ish tinge that had started to color its edges.

As Patton made it to the doorway, glasses and sight returned, he couldn’t hold back a shocked squeal as he saw what Logan was now starring open mouthed at, though he noticed the small upturn of his lips.

On the couch sat Roman in the same position Patton had seen him last, however he was now adorned with Remy who sat straddled on top of him. Their faces were pressed tightly together in a passionate kiss, neither one of them seeming to want to break it off.

“Hey, Lo.” Patton whispered, grabbing Logan’s hand.

Logan turned his attention from the two enraptured souls on the couch to Patton, his face relaxed and a smile tugging as his lips.

“Let’s go to my room?” Patton said, tugging Logan’s hand lightly as he started to walk towards the hallway. Logan gave a small nod, letting himself be tugged along.

‘Qu'es-tu pour moi si je suis ton étoile?’ Logan thought as he looked at his hand still intertwined with Patton’s, the smile on his lips never leaving.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 'qu'es-tu pour moi si je suis ton étoile?' = 'what are you to me if I am your star?'
> 
> okay, i think we're nearing the end of this?? Id say anywhere from 4-10 more chapters :D
> 
> also, sorry this is a bit shorter than usual, i just thought this was a nice place to end this :)
> 
> and i'm on christmas break for the next 2 weeks, so more updates most likely!!!
> 
> OH, AND I HAVE ANOTHER FIC UP RIGHT NOW THAT I'M GONNA BE UPDATING SHORTLY AFTER THIS IS UP!!!!!! :D :D :D
> 
> it's called Purrfectly Virgil and it's Virgil having come... feline qualities? ;P (Deceit is mainly just a morally neutral character for now, but i'm not sure what route it'll end up really taking :p )
> 
> check it out if you want!!! i appreciate the support guys! <3 <3 <3


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (this is really short, but i felt like i needed to put something up ha ha :p)
> 
> Remy and Roman talk... a little ;)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS:  
>  light swearing (one f bomb), a lot of kissing (idk if that's a warning, but just in case)
> 
> PLEASE TELL ME IF I FORGOT SOMETHING!!!

When Remy first appeared in front of Roman, knocking his full mug to the ground and breaking it, Roman wasn’t entirely sure what was happening.

“Re-!” Roman started to say, only to be cut off my Remy putting his finger to his lips and saying, “Oh, shut up you idiot.”

Before anything else could be said, Remy was pressing his lips forcefully against Roman’s.

Roman simply kissed back, slowly at first but with more force as the kiss deepened and he finally convinced himself that yes:

This was fucking happening.

And oh god was it amazing.

They didn’t split for a while, but when they finally did it was Remy drawing back to take a deep breath.

They both were breathing heavily and their cheeks were slightly flushed a soft red as they stared at each other.

“W...where the heck did that come from?” Roman asked quietly, his voice slightly lower than usual which cause Remy to smirk.

Looking Roman up and down, Remy got off of him and went to sit at the other end of the couch while saying, “You’re an idiot. Why didn’t you ever tell me you liked me?”

Roman’s face flushed a little brighter.

“Well, I thought you didn’t like me! I… ya know… didn’t wanna ruin anything.” he said, starting off strong and confident but gradually getting quieter.

Remy gave a small laugh.

“Wow, you are so cute when making excuses.” he said sarcastically, a smirk playing across his face.

Roman glared over at him.

“Oh yeah ‘Mr. I Have a Crush on Roman and I’m Never Gonna Tell Him because He Doesn’t Feel the Same Way?’ Well then, I must say you’re on fire because I smell the smokey scent of a hypocrite.” Roman retorted, crossing his arms as he tried to hide his growing smirk.

Remy wanted to roll his eyes at the over complicated attempt at a joke, but instead jumped forward once again and pressed himself back onto Roman.

Roman, more prepared this time, kissed back with full force and flipped Remy underneath him with surprising strength.

Remy let out a startled mumble at this and Roman pulled back slightly to give him a sly smirk.

Remy smirked back but as Roman began to close the distance between their mouths again Remy’s eyes went wide and he pressed his hand to cover Roman’s mouth.

“Oop! One sec babe, I needa do something real quick.” he said, moving to sit up despite Roman still being on top of him.

Pouting slightly, Roman got up and let Remy fully sit up. His pout quickly turned into confusion as Remy waved his hand and conjured the same pen and journal he had out earlier.

“What’s that?” Roman asked, watching Remy scribble a few sentences on a half filled page and then let it disappear with the pen.

“Hm? Oh, I guess it’s kind of like a dream journal. Except instead of writing down dreams, I write down things that actually happen.” Remy responded, leaning back and placing his sunglasses on his face as they had fallen off during his earlier surprise attack.

“Why would you write down reality though?” Roman asked, confused.

Remy felt a light blush fall across his cheeks as he answered, “I have trouble, uh, telling the difference sometimes. Ya know, between dreams and reality. The journal helps me remember I’m awake.”

It occurred to him that only Logan really knew this bit of information, though he figured the others probably picked up on it. Logan, however, was the only one he had directly told before.

Roman looked Remy up and down, trying not to think about how cute he was when he was blushing.

“Oh, okay. That makes sense, actually. Now I feel dumb for not noticing sooner.” Roman said with a small frown.

However, that frown quickly turned into a mischievous smirk as he looked Remy up and down again.

Remy, after his momentary shock at Roman just accepting that bit of information, smirked back and pounced onto Roman, smashing their lips together once again..

‘Oh, I could get used to this.’ Roman thought, kissing back and wrapping his arms around Remy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this is so short!!! and that i've kinda neglected this story ha ha...
> 
> okay, i got distracted with my NEW SYMPATHETIC DECEIT FIC!!!!!!!! :D
> 
> it's called "The Impossible Death" if you wanted to read it!!! but just a small warning: it's really dark and deals with self harm and suicide and stuff so be careful if you decide to read!
> 
> HOWEVER: the 2nd quarter just ended meaning hopefully more time to write!!! :d
> 
> i kinda got caught up in the holidays so i know its been a while since my last update for this fic he he...
> 
> sowwy <3
> 
> and "Purrfectly Virgil" is now also a sympathetic deceit btw and in a few chapters it's gonna be a lot of dee and virge... just so you know ;)
> 
> OKAY BYE, C U SOON I PROMISE!!!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sweet, sweet Logicality ;p

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CHAPTER WARNINGS:
> 
> crying (i guess?)
> 
> idk guys, this is a pretty light and fluffy chapter but PLEASE TELL ME IF I FORGOT SOMETHING!!!

Patton led Logan back to his bedroom quietly, hoping they didn’t disturb the couple on the couch.

Reaching his room, he let go of Logan’s hand to hold the door open for him, giving a slight bow as he did so.

Logan repressed a grin and rolled his eyes at such a Roman mannerism coming from Patton as he walked into the room.

Patton felt a small grin grow on his face as he followed Logan, letting the door close behind him.

Finally alone and bathed in the calming glow of the blue fairy lights Patton had placed around his room, Logan felt himself at a loss of words.

He quietly made his way to the bed and sat down, trying to keep the best posture he could.

Patton smiled and sat down on the floor crossed legged across from him.

“There’s plenty of room on the bed you know.” Logan said as he looked down at Patton, confused.

Patton gave a cheery smile as he said, “Yeah, but the floor just feels better, you know?”

Logan did not know. He did not understand why people insisted on sitting on surfaces that weren’t designed to be sat on.

He was about to state this, but looking down at Patton’s face he knew that it would make no difference. He’d just argue that the logicality of it doesn’t change the ‘feelings’ or whatever.

If Patton wanted to sit on the floor then fine. Logan wouldn’t stop him.

Unfortunately, maintaining good posture was difficult when he had to keep his head tilted down to see Patton’s face.

Sighing and letting go of almost all the dignity and pride he had left, Logan gracefully slipped from the bed to the floor so he was sitting directly across from Patton.

Patton couldn’t control the smile that broke across his face, which he noticed happened around Logan quite often.

“How’s it feel?” Patton asked, bringing his legs to his chest to hug them. His eyes were shining with a joy that Logan couldn’t comprehend.

“It’s adequate I suppose. At least your rug is clean.” Logan stated, unconsciously running his hand over the dark blue fuzzy rug he was sitting on.

Patton opened his mouth at this, but quickly closed it as he decided not to tell Logan that he’d never cleaned his rug before.

Heck, he didn’t even know that was a thing people were supposed to do.

“So what do we do now?” Logan asked and Patton looked up from the floor to see Logan looking around the room inquisitively, quickly inspecting every item that caught his interest.

“Hmmm…” Patton hummed, resting his chin on his knees.

What did they do now? Remy and Roman were occupied and Virgil was still with Deceit.

Patton looked around his room as well, noticing a small dusty object hidden under his bed

“AHA!” he exclaimed, falling forward onto his stomach and stretching to pull it towards him.

Sitting up onto his elbows, he wiped the dust off of it and onto his rug.

Rolling onto his back, he tilted his head backwards to view Logan.

“Cards!” he shouted happily, thrusting the deck of cards he’d retrieved into the air above him with both hands.

Logan stared for a second, before reaching forward and grabbing the cards. Turning them over in his hands and examining them, he looked up to Patton with an excited glint in his features.

“I can’t believe you still have these. I thought Thomas lost them.” Logan said, looking back down at the playing cards. The playing cards that had a different star constellation on each card. The playing cards that he specifically remembers Thomas leaving on the subway in New York City.

“I keep everything, remember?” Patton said, giving Logan a breathtakingly gorgeous smile that left him staring at him for a few seconds before blushing and looking back down at the cards.

Pulling them out of their package, he felt a small smile grow on his face as he looked through all the different star constellations and their names.

Looking up again, he saw Patton looking at him, seeming to be completely enraptured with simply watching him.

Before Logan could really think about it, he felt himself inching closer to Patton until he was sitting directly next to him and their legs were pressed together.

Patton gave him a questioning look, but before he could ask what he was doing, Logan said, “This constellation is called Andromeda.”

Patton looked down and saw Logan holding one of the cards up.

Looking through the deck a little bit more, Logan pulled up another card.

“This constellation is called Cassiopeia. She’s the queen and the mother of Andromeda.”

“She looks like a chair.” Patton stated bluntly, tilting his head as he tried to see what was so queen-like about the seemingly random arrangement of stars.

Logan gave a small chuckle.

“Some people see a chair, but others see a ‘w.’ It all depends on how you are viewing it.”

Patton gave a small nod and Logan continued.

“This one is the king, otherwise known as Cepheus-“

“Wait, if people know that it doesn’t look like a queen, then why do they call it that? Also, how was it decided that Andromeda is related to the queen?” Patton asked, feeling as though his mind was about to catch fire as he tried to process and understand just the small amount of information that was being relayed to him.

Logan turned the corner of his mouth up in a small grin as he looked to Patton, who appeared to be deep thought.

“Would you like to hear the story?” he asked and Patton looked up at him with wide eyes.

“Story?” Patton asked curiously and Logan nodded.

“Yes. Most constellations have stories behind the name called ‘myths.’ Would you like to know the story of Andromeda?”

Patton’s eyes went even wider as he nodded his head enthusiastically, giving a bright smile.

Logan smiled to himself as he began to recount the classic Greek tale of how Andromeda was meant to be sacrificed to the sea monster Cetus after her mother Cassiopeia, who was married to the Ethiopian king Cepheus, bragged that Andromeda was more beautiful than the Nereids, or the sea nymphs. Poseidon, angered to hear this, sent Cetus the sea monster out to destroy devastate the land of Ethiopia by ravaging their coast. King Cepheus thus appealed to Zeus who decided the only way to appease the angered God would be to sacrifice Andromeda to Cetus.

Patton had tears sparkling in his eyes by this point.

“How could he agree to do that to his own daughter?” he asked, horrified.

“It’s just a story, Patton.” Logan said with a small frown, not happy with the effect the story seemed to have on Patton.

“That doesn’t make it any less horrible!” Patton exclaimed, hugging his knees close to his chest.

Logan’s frown deepened.

“Do you want me to continue?” he asked hesitantly, afraid of upsetting Patton even more.

Patton sniffled and vigorously nodded his head, wiping tears from his eyes.

Logan gave a small nod and continued.

“Well, the King did agree to this. He had Andromeda chained to the rocks to await her doom, but that’s when Perseus flew over head and spotted her.”

“Who’s Perseus?” Patton asked, once again quickly enraptured in the story.

“He’s a very well known figure in Greek Mythology. The son of Zeus and a human named Danae, he is most known for slaying Medusa-”

“WHAT?!?” Patton shouted, causing Logan to jump. “I thought that was Percy Jackson...” he continued, letting go of his knees and placing a hand to his chin in thought.

Logan sighed at this and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Patton, you do realize that that is a fiction book series and essentially none of those events actually transpired in mythology or reality, correct?”

“Can you tell me the real story next then?” Patton asked excitedly.

Logan looked up at this and, after taking in Patton’s excited face, smiled and nodded.

“Of course. Would you like me to finish the current story first?”

Patton nodded eagerly and Logan cleared his throat before continuing.

“Upon seeing the gorgeous Andromeda chained to the rocks, Perseus fell in love immediately. After killing Cetus and saving her, he asked King Cepheus for her hand in marriage.” Logan finished.

“Awwwww!” Patton breathily said, his eyes wet once again which caused Logan to panic.

“I’m sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry. Here.” Logan said as calmly as possible, conjuring a tissue and handing it to Patton.

Patton laughed lightly, taking the tissue and blowing his nose.

“I’m not crying because I’m sad, Lo.” he said, looking to Logan with more tears forming in his eyes.

Logan started to panic further.

“Are you sure? I know really happy stories, I can tell you those if you’d rather or-” Logan started to ramble, cut off by Patton lightly pressing a finger to his lips.

“Calm down, mon étoile.” Patton said gently, removing his finger from Logan’s lips and smiling softly.

Logan promptly shut up, trying to ignore the fast beating of his heart.

“I loved the story.” he said, his smile growing just a bit.

“You did? Then why-”

“It was a good story-” Patton cut him off. “It was a good story, but that’s not what I liked the most about it.” Patton said, looking down at his hands with a small blush tinting his cheeks.

Logan tilted his head and looked at Patton curiously.

“What did you like about it then?” he asked, watching as Patton became increasingly flustered.

“I, well… I could listen to you talk all day. About anything. I… I just like your voice.” Patton said, his face getting redder as he stumbled over his words.

He was adorable. Logan felt himself short circuit as he looked at the flushing, adorable mess sitting next to him.

Distracted, Logan let the first thing he thought of slip out of his mouth.

“You’re Andromeda.” he whispered breathlessly and Patton looked up at him curiously.

“What?” Patton asked and now it was Logan’s turn to become a flustered disaster.

“I uh, well… You, umm- you are, uh, perfect- I mean, um, amazing- I mean nice! Just like, you know…” Logan said, words tumbling out of his mouth in a confusing mess.

Patton stared wide eyed at Logan before a huge smile took over his face.

“Does that mean you’re Perseus?” he asked brightly and Logan looked up at him.

“Wh-what do you mean?” he asked quietly.

Patton smiled as he stood up.

“Well, I can’t be Andromeda without a Perseus.” he said, holding out a hand towards Logan.

Logan looked at the outstretched hand for a second before grabbing it with his own hand and being helped up by Patton.

After brushing himself down, Logan looked back up to see Patton still smiling warmly at him.

“Why don’t we go back to my room? We can lie on my bed and I can show you more constellations.” Logan suggested, putting the cards back in their packaging and placing them on the bedside table.

Patton thought about it for a moment.

“Make it the floor and you have a deal.” he said, sticking out his tongue and clasping his hands behind his back.

Logan grinned despite himself.

“Fine.”

Patton smiled and with a snap of his fingers he was wearing his cat onesie and Logan was wearing his unicorn one.

“Might as well do this the right way.” Patton said at Logan’s questioning glace.

Logan rolled his eyes.

“Fine, let’s go.” he said, grabbing Patton’s hand as he led him out the door and down the hallway to his room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HA HA HA!!! :D
> 
> figured i needed some more, cute logicality in here and i was in the mood to write some and this is the product!!! ^^
> 
> (in case you’re wondering, yes they are both still completely clueless as to their own feelings and each other’s so... ;p)
> 
> (figured everyone else’s relationships happened so quickly, i gotta drag one of them out :D)


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We finally go back to Deceit and Virgil to see what they’re up to!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CHAPTER WARNINGS:
> 
> past self harm, depression mentions, food mentions, kissing, sympathetic deceit
> 
> PLEASE TELL ME IF I FORGOT SOMETHING!!!

Virgil closed his eyes and let out a content sigh as he let himself lean even more into Deceit's one armed embrace.

But something was still bothering Deceit.

"You know," he said softly, running his free hand through Virgil's hair, "This doesn't change anything."

Virgil furrowed his eyebrows and turned his head to give Deceit a questioning glance.

"What do you mean?" he asked softly, taking Deceit's hand from his hair and gripping it in his own.

Deceit hummed and rubbed circles into the back of Virgil's hand.

"I like being like this with you, and you've really made me feel better in the day you've been locked in here with me." Deceit chuckled lightly at how long one day seemed to be.

"But..." he continued and sighed, slowly splitting himself away from Virgil so he could face him.

"I'm still not okay, you know. I still feel the same as I did before. That I don't deserve to… that I'm not supposed to… be with you all."

Virgil gave him a small smile.

"I know that. Do you know how long it's taken me to convince myself I belong here?"

"That's different though." Deceit replied and Virgil looked at him, curious.

"Why is it different?"

Deceit hesitated, biting his lip softly then taking his shirt off so his torso was visible.

"What are you- oh, Dee." Virgil trailed off as his eyes landed on the raised pink and white scars that covered his stomach and shoulders.

Deceit fought to keep himself from wrapping around his body, hiding the scars from sight.

He sat up straighter, letting Virgil's eyes trace over them.

"Scratching. It's a bad habit I got into a few years ago."

He hunched over a bit.

"It just got out of hand and..."

He was cut off by Virgil leaning over and cupping his cheek with his hand, forcing him to look him in the eyes.

"I'm happy you told me." he said softly and Deceit felt the tension leave his shoulders as he felt himself lean into Virgil's touch.

Virgil moved over so that they were sitting side by side again and wrapped an arm around Deceit.

“You didn’t let me finish, though.” he said lightly, giving Deceit a small push.

“To this day, I still often feel like I’m just bringing everyone else down. Like I should have just stayed in the dark with the others.”

Deceit looked down at Virgil.

“But the thing I learned is that it doesn’t matter if I think I belong at all. It’s up to the others, and they’re always ready to counteract any argument I have.”

Virgil smiled up softly at him.

“And I know it’s gonna be the same with you. Get used to it, sucker.”

Deceit laughed and Virgil brought his lips up to meet Deceit’s, both of them smiling happily.

Deceit knew he still wasn’t okay. He knew he might never be okay.

But that was okay, because he wasn’t alone anymore.

He’d just have to take each day as it comes.

Speaking of…

Deceit slowly split his lips away from Virgil’s.

“So… when are we gonna finally leave this room?” he asked and Virgil looked at the time on the TV.

“It’s about four, so Patton has probably started dinner already.”

Deceit took a deep breath and stood up, holding his hand out for Virgil.

Virgil, with a beautifully dorky smile on his face, took it and led Deceit to the door.

“Ready?” Virgil asked, placing his hand on the doorknob and looking back at Deceit.

Deceit mocked a big gulp and hesitantly said, “I don’t know—”

Virgil snorted and playfully hit Deceit who laughed.

“Yeah. Yeah I’m ready.” he said and Virgil nodded and opened the door.

“Don’t worry, it’s not usually too crazy out here.” he said as he walked side by side with Deceit down the hallway and into the living room.

They both stopped in the doorway to the living room as they walked in on Roman on top of Remy, embraced in what appeared to be a passionate kiss on the floor in between the coffee table and couch.

“Yeah, this is normal.” Deceit said sarcastically with a slight eye roll and a smile.

Virgil smiled and loudly cleared his throat.

…

They didn’t appear to hear him.

Virgil rolled his eyes and looked at Deceit.

“Let’s leave them be.” he said, not bothering to keep his voice down.

Deceit nodded and let Virgil lead him into the kitchen.

“Pat?” Virgil called out as they entered, only to find the kitchen devoid of human life.

“Oh, that’s odd.” he said quietly to himself.

“Do we really need to make my presence known?” Deceit asked softly, going up behind Virgil and wrapping his arms around his waist.

Virgil giggled and leaned into the touch, turning around so that their foreheads were together.

“What do you suggest we do then?” he asked.

Deceit hummed quietly and swayed them back and forth a bit.

“How about we make dinner?” he finally answered and Virgil grinned.

“Sounds like a splendid idea.”

“Splendid? Such a fancy word for you.” Deceit joked as Virgil parted from him, heading for the cupboard.

“I’ve spent too much time with you.” he replied and Deceit chuckled.

“Is that a bad thing?” he asked as he headed for the fridge.

Virgil stayed silent for a moment and when Deceit turned to look at him he saw him eyeing him up and down.

“... No.” he finally answered, closing the distance between them and pushing their lips together.

Deceit smiled and kissed back.

Dinner could wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *hem hem*
> 
> ...
> 
> soooooooo, he he...... its been a while.
> 
> sowwy, i got busy with school and mental health and stuff ack—
> 
> BUT, school is now officially over and i have a lot of free time to write!!!
> 
> which mean i can FINALLY finish this gosh darn fan fic.
> 
> this is my first ever fic so i know there are holes and it’s... well, probs not that great, but thank you to everyone who has read this thus far!!! i really appreciate it and... yah, thanks 🥰❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
> 
> last 2 chapters will be up before the end of the week, and then i’m gonna work on my other fics ;p


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil tried to cook, Roman is an actual child, and Logan and Patton become a little less oblivious;p

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CHAPTER WARNINGS:
> 
> sympathetic deceit, screaming, hitting, a small ‘parental abuse’ joke but there isn’t actually any abuse

After a few minutes of deliberation — and other things — Virgil and Deceit finally concluded that the only thing they could cook without burning down the house was spaghetti.

“Angel hair?” Virgil asked and Deceit rolled his eyes.

“Duh.”

Virgil smirked and dumped the pasta into the boiling water.

***

“Did I hear angel hair?!” Roman shouted excitedly, pulling his lips away from Remy’s abruptly as he shot up from his position on top of him.

Remy brought his head up with Roman’s sudden movement, trying to reconnect their lips.

When he failed, he huffed and started to sit up as Roman made a mad dash into the kitchen.

“Romannnnnnn,” Remy whined, standing up and following him into the other room.

As he walked in, he noticed Roman had already perched himself onto the counter and was bouncing one leg excitedly.

“Pasta, pasta, pasta—” he chanted softly as he pounded his fists softly on his legs.

Virgil sighed, running both his hands down his face.

“You are an actual child sometimes.” he said, turning away from him to stir the pasta.

“I know what you are, but what am I?” Roman said in a nasally voice, flinching away and complaining about parental abuse when Virgil turned back around and threw an oven mit at him.

Remy rolled his eyes and moved to lean next to Deceit on the opposite counter, who was watching the scene in front of him unfold with a small smile.

“You wouldn’t be smiling so much if you had watched this same fight happen about a billion times already.” Remy whispered to him, bumping his shoulder against his lightly.

“Though, maybe that’s not why you’re smiling?” he added slyly.

Deceit didn’t look at him, but Remy could see a blush beginning to taint his cheeks.

“How’d you know anyway?” he asked and Remy began to watch Roman and Virgil still fighting, though the subject had appeared to change to Roman being chastised for being in the way.

“Roman and I saw you kiss from my room. That’s all we saw though, I promise.” he added, upon feeling Deceit stiffen next to him.

Deceit sighed.

“I swear, you have too much power.” he said and Remy smirked, turning to look at him again.

“The perks of not being an actual part of Thomas.” he said with a wink and Deceit rolled his eyes.

“Hey, Virge,” he called and Virgil paused mid complaint to look at him.

“Yeah?”

Deceit pointed to the spaghetti pot behind him.

“It’s boiling over.”

Virgil turned around quickly to see bubbles of water pouring over the sides of the pot.

“God damn it, Roman!” he shouted as he ran to take the lid off the pot, not realizing he didn’t have the oven mit on.

“Wait, Virgil—!” Deceit started to call, leaning forward to stop him.

Then all hell broke loose.

***

Logan felt a grin creep onto his face as he turned his head to look at Patton and saw the pure wonder and fascination in his features.

“How do you know all of this, Lo?” he asked softly, his eyes seeming to shine as they reflected the lights of the stars that surrounded them.

Well, they weren’t actual stars. Logan, however, had decided that the string lights he had set up around his room in the shapes of the constellations came pretty close though.

“Space is one of the most fascinating things in this ever expanding universe.” Logan replied in a quiet voice, afraid that if he spoke to loudly that he would wake up and realize this whole thing was a dream.

Patton turned his head to him, his hair falling softly into his eyes.

Before Logan realized what he was doing, he was reaching over and brushing it to the side delicately with his fingers.

As his fingertips lightly brushed the others forehead, Patton’s eyes widened slightly.

Logan paused for a moment before he brushed his hand through Patton’s hair.

Patton hummed and closed his eyes, moving closer to Logan so that his head was resting on his chest as he curled up into a ball.

Logan let out a quick chuckle as he kept messing with Patton’s hair, taking note of the faint scent of lavender that filled his senses.

He didn’t even notice that he too had leaned into Patton until he realized that he had one arm around Patton and the other in his hair, his body shaping to the curve of Patton’s balled up shape.

“Hey, Lo?” Patton asked, his breath hitting Logan’s chest.

“Yes?” Logan replied, his hand never pausing or hesitating in its consistent movement through Patton’s hair.

Patton didn’t speak for a moment before asking, “What’s the other most fascinating thing in the universe?”

Logan’s hand paused mid stroke through his hair and Patton shifted his head so that he was looking at Logan. Their eyes locked together.

Logan didn’t give a verbal answer this time. He simply couldn’t. So instead, he did something he didn’t even know he wanted to do as he leaned over and placed his lips on Patton’s forehead, so soft that Patton thought he might have imagined it.

Logan lingered a moment, his lips still lightly brushing Patton’s forehead before he pulled back.

Patton’s eyes were almost laughably wide, his mouth slightly agape.

Logan suddenly felt as though he’d been submerged in boiling water, his face heating up with a dark red blush as he opened his mouth to apologize, but Patton quickly put a finger to his lips.

Patton was still studying him with wide eyes, but his gaze held no anger or tenseness.

Logan felt his heart begin to beat faster. He was certain that Patton must have felt it, if not heard it, with how close together they still were.

Patton slowly let his finger fall from Logan’s lips and began to get incrementally closer to Logan as Logan began to lean his head down closer.

Then they heard the scream.

The moment forgotten for now, they both immediately bolted up right and stumbled to their feet, running to the door.

Logan made it first and threw open the door, running down the hallway towards the kitchen in record time.

As he entered the kitchen, the first thing he took notice of was the dry pasta that covered every surface.

The second thing he noticed was Virgil hitting Roman with an oven mit as he yelled multiple profanities while Roman tried to protect himself with his arms. Deceit and Remy on the other hand were laughing maniacally against the opposite counter.

Patton ran up behind him and squeezed next to him to stand in the doorway.

“What happened?” Logan finally asked, loud enough to bring the rooms attention to him.

“Roman threw a fucking box of pasta at me.” Virgil said angrily, throwing the oven mit at Roman and crossing his arms.

Roman grabbed the oven mit and threw it back at Virgil, who caught it easily.

“You were about to burn your hand on the pot, I was protecting you!” he exclaimed and stuck out his tongue.

“You didn’t have to throw a box of pasta at me though, you fuckwad!” Virgil shouted back, once again hitting Roman with the oven mit repeatedly.

“Okay, I’m taking the mit.” Patton said, running forwards and pulling it from Virgil’s grip quickly.

“Hey, I was using that!” Virgil said, reaching out for it as Patton threw it to Logan who barely caught it.

“Thank you padre, but I could’ve handled the situation by myself.” Roman said as he put down his arms and brushed down his shirt.

“We’re sure.” came Remy’s rasping voice from the corner where Deceit and Remy were still gasping for breath as they wiped tears from their eyes.

Logan sighed and grabbed the broom.

“Roman, you’re sweeping.” he said, sticking the broom out to Roman.

“But I stopped Virgil from getting burned! Why should I have to clean up?” Roman exclaimed outraged, but he still grabbed the broom.

Logan rolled his eyes.

“There were more effective methods you could have used to stop Virgil than throwing pasta at him.” he said as he passed Roman the dust pan.

Roman jumped off the counter and grabbed the dust pan, beginning to sweep up the floor as he mocked Logan in a mumbled voice.

“By the way, Virgil?” Logan said, turning to Virgil who was smugly smiling at Roman.

“Yeah?” Virgil asked turning to Logan.

Logan pointed to the stove.

“The pot is boiling over.”

“Oh, mother fucker!” Virgil exclaimed, twisting around and turning off the stove.

The kitchen went silent for a moment, besides the still mumbling Roman and Deciet’s and Remy’s giggling.

“Well… What about pizza then?” Patton said happily, breaking the silence with a clap of his hands.

“Pizza!” Roman exclaimed happily, looking up from his sweeping to throw his arms up in celebration.

Virgil shot him a deadly glare.

“Keep sweeping, Princy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hehehehehe, sorry about the teasing with logan and patton, i had to :D
> 
> also i love just imaging roman being a stupid dramatic boi lololol bc same.
> 
> last chapter will be pretty long i think, just to wrap up some loose ends and then i may do one last small chapter as a little update on their lives, but we’ll get there later ;p

**Author's Note:**

> First fanfic! I apologize if it's bad, but you gotta start somewhere, right? Next chapter up in a week-ish!


End file.
